can you help me find my way out of this darkness I know so well?
by EverlyRose1
Summary: After 10 years Evie is finally given permission to leave her mother's castle and attend school on the Isle of the Lost. Evie is thrilled, even if she's not exactly well-received by a certain former friend. Mal quickly learns that Evie's life locked up in the Castle Across the Way has been far from ideal and eventually lets go of her lingering feelings of ill-will. (TW inside).
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: Cross-posting from AO3 where my username is Everly_Rose.  
**_

_**Takes place on the Isle of the Lost. A look into Evie's life pre-Auradon and how she came to be a part of the cour four.**_

_**Trigger warnings for later chapters, I'll note which when we get there but will eventually include references to abuse and rape. **_

* * *

"So did you hear?" Jay says, grin wide as he sidles up to Mal at her locker.

Mal doesn't bother to turn her head to face her friend, too busy wrestling with her busted old locker door to spare him a glance. The damn thing never wants to open when she needs it to. "Hear what?"

"About the new girl. About time we got some fresh meat in here," Jay muses as he leans back against the locker next to Mal's and scopes out a group of girls passing by. He had hooked up with 2 out of the 3… at the same time. He smirks at the memory and throws a wink in their direction, catching the eye of one of the girls and causing her to break out into a smile.

"Another transfer from Serpent Prep? Like we need any more castaways from that cesspool," Mal huffs as she gives her locker door one last hard tug. It flies open with a clatter, forcing Mal to jump back to avoid getting hit in the face.

Gods, she hates this place. Everything in Dragon Hall was run-down or broken. The lockers didn't open, the desks were all wobbly, and texts books were practically non-existent. And don't even get her started on what passed for food in this dump.

Mal also hates new people so excuse her if she's not as excited about the new girl as Jay appears to be. Okay so Mal hates all people but still, she doesn't need some castaway pirate coming into her school and disturbing the order of things, especially when the order of things was her at top.

"Not exactly," Jay says. "No one has seen this chick. She was like a shut-in or something."

Mal fixes her eyes on Jay. She knows every kid on the Isle, what crew they run with and what territory that crew occupies. Shut-in. It couldn't be.

Jay quickly puts an end to her wondering. "Apparently she's the Evil Queen's daughter. Who knew that old hag even had a kid?"

Mal scoffs to mask her surprise. There's a strange pulling in her chest that she'd rather not address. "That annoying princess wannabe?" She can't believe it's actually _her._

"You know her?" Jay asks.

"Used to. She's a total priss." Mal wonders if she's still as pretty as she remembers.

Jay cocks an eyebrow in Mal's direction. "You two got bad blood?"

Mal slams her locker shut, having finished changing her books out. "Hardly. She's a nobody."

"Well, word around the halls is she's pretty hot," Jay grins, excitement dancing in his eyes. He always did love a good chase, whether his target be stolen goods or pretty girls.

Mal starts towards the cafeteria, Jay pushing off the lockers to follow. Mal, Jay and Carlos liked to skip the class before lunch so they could get to the cafeteria early and have their pick of the slop they served for lunch in this hell-hole.

Mal can't help but roll her eyes at Jay. That explains his interest in Dragon Hall's newest student. A new skirt for him to chase. "And you think that information is useful to me, because…?"

"Someone's got their panties in a bunch," Jay teases.

"What's this about Mal's panties?" Carlos asks as he comes up behind the pair and falls into step with his friends.

"I hate you two," Mal grumbles. She quickens her pace as much as her legs will allow and walks a few steps ahead of the boys, but not so much ahead that she won't be able to hear what they say.

Jay throws his head back with a laugh and wraps an arm around Carlos's shoulders. "So Carlos man, you see the new girl yet? Is she as hot as Anthony and Clay say she is?"

"Evie?" Carlos asks.

Mal's breath hitches just barely at the sound of her name. She knew it was her, it had to be, but she wasn't prepared to actually hear her name. Not after all these years of intentionally avoiding speaking or even thinking it. There's that strange pulling in Mal's chest again.

"You've met?" Jay questions.

Carlos shrugs, pulling out of Jay's embrace and adjusting his backpack over his shoulder. "I already knew her. She's cool."

Mal pauses at that. Carlos has seen Evie. Why didn't she know that? She should know that. But she's sort of relieved she didn't because there's no way she would have been able to leave the situation alone if she did know.

Jay stops in front of Carlos and throws up his hands in mock offense. "Woah. Hold up a second. You have friends outside the two of us? Are we not enough for you, bro? I'm hurt."

"Shut up."

Jay grins at his Carlos's annoyance. "So how do you know the new chick?"

"Her castle's not far from my place. I've seen her around."

"Why haven't you brought her around then? Hoarding all the hot chicks for yourself?" Jay asks and Mal slows just a bit so she doesn't miss whatever Carlos is about to say.

"Evie couldn't exactly stray far from her castle," Carlos says, choosing to ignore Jay and glaring purposely at the back of Mal's head instead.

Mal doesn't miss the accusing tone of Carlos's statement, which she knows is aimed at her, and in an instant she's spinning on her heels and pointing a finger at the boy. "Hey I didn't banish her! My mother did!" she fires back. Just as quickly as her defenses came on, she huffs out a breath and unclenches her jaw. Her brow furrows as she stops to think. "What I don't get is what changed? Why is she here now?"

"Maleficent had a change of heart and lifted the banishment. Gave the all-clear for Evie to attend school finally," Carlos explains. He tries to keep the excitement out of his voice and sound casual. No one needs to know how happy he is to have Evie out of that gods-forsaken castle and in school finally, especially not Mal.

Mal fails to mask her confusion. Her mother hadn't mentioned anything about Evie. Not that they talked a whole lot. "She did? How do you know that?" she demands, not pleased to be so out of the loop.

"Evie told me."

"So you're close then?" Jay grins. "Perfect. You can introduce me."

"Why are you so interested in meeting Evie?" Carlos asks.

"He wants to fuck her," Mal states matter-of-factly. She's so done talking about Evie.

"Hey, I haven't even seen her yet. Maybe she won't be my type. Maybe I just like meeting new people," Jay says in defense of himself.

Mal rolls her eyes. "Your type is anything that breathes."

"Yeah, I'm probably going to fuck her," Jay grins. "So hook your boy up, Carlos. Talk me up, lay on the charm, do whatever you gotta do to get those legs open for the Jay-missile."

Carlos's face twists in disgust. "No. And gross."

"No? Bro, you're supposed to be my wingman!" Jay cries.

"I don't recall ever agreeing to that arrangement."

"You're no fun. Guess I'll have to count on my own devilish good looks and boyish charm to seduce her."

"Good luck with that," Carlos calls back as he makes his way to the lunch line.

* * *

"If you don't stop fussing you're not going to have time to do something with that wretched hair of yours."

Evie jumps at the sound of her mother's voice. She rips her gaze away from her own reflection and turns to look behind her. The Evil Queen's eyes are hard and her mouth is twisted into a scowl as she stands in the doorway of Evie's room carefully eying her daughter. Evie knows her mother isn't happy about her going to school finally and disrupting their usual daily routine, but Evie is absolutely thrilled. So thrilled, in fact, she's not going to let her mother's little dig about her hair get her down.

"I already did my hair, mother," Evie says flatly.

The Evil Queen just hums and feigns surprise.

Evie fights off the urge to roll her eyes at her mother's attempt to dampen her spirits. Her mother has never been fond of eye rolling. She deemed it bratty and unbefitting of a proper princess. Evie doesn't need that headache, not on her first day of school. She may have clamped down the eye roll but Evie can't help the smile that spreads across her face at the thought of finally attending school.

A real school! After nearly a decade of being castle-schooled by her mother, she's finally going to be able to learn about something other than eyeliner and blush. Sure she had managed to teach herself a few things whenever she got her hands on a book (usually given to her by Carlos whenever he had to opportunity to nick one for her), but it wasn't the same. She'll be out of the house, away from her mother, for 7 glorious hours a day and nothing could spoil that for her.

"Quit grinning like a moron! Do you want to get wrinkles?!"

"No mother." Evie snaps out of her musing and adjusts her expression to something more neutral.

"Well, what are you waiting for? I won't have you embarrass me by showing up disheveled and tardy!"

Evie nods and turns to look once more at her reflection in the floor-length mirror that occupies the corner of her bedroom. Yes, she's excited but she's also a little scared. Maybe more than a little scared. She's pretty much terrified. She's had very little interaction with kids her own age and she's nervous about how her peers will receive her. Carlos advised her to keep her head down and just try to survive, but she's tired of just surviving. She wants a life. A life with friends and school dances and homecoming games. Heck, she's even eager to get homework for the first time in her life.

She does one last once over, making sure her dress falls just right, her hair is impeccable, and her makeup covers every imperfection. With a quick goodbye to her mother, who never stops glaring, Evie heads off to start her very first day at Dragon Hall.

* * *

Turns out Dragon Hall isn't at all like the schools she's read about in books Carlos had stolen for her. She should have known outdated fiction novels thrown away by the snobs in Auradon and sold at the bazaar wouldn't paint the most accurate picture of high school on the Isle of the Lost. There were no pep rallies or cheerleaders or sprawling fields filled with jocks in letterman jackets. The curriculum was hardly what Evie would consider well-rounded. Her first class had been something called Wickedness 101 and apparently showing up to said class was actually frowned upon because attending class is not considered very wicked. She had been provided with exactly two texts book. Her Weird Sciences textbook is falling apart at the seams and the pages of her Introduction to Scheming book are littered with pornographic drawings and profanity-laced graffiti. Her locker didn't even have a door so she was forced to carry all her stuff all morning. She hadn't been to lunch yet but judging by the smell coming from the direction of the cafeteria, that wasn't going to be all too pleasant either.

Dragon Hall wasn't at all what she had pictured, but it sure beats being home with her mother.

"Carlos!" Evie beams when she spots the freckle-faced boy standing in front of a row of lockers.

Relief spreads through her body at the sight of the familiar face. Her morning had been somewhat rough. Her classmates either ignored her or flat out jeered when she was introduced as the new kid in class. Except of course for a couple of boys who had been a little too nice. She had been shoved, laughed at, and pushed against a locker, but her smile has yet to falter. She's in school, and no matter what, that sure as hell beat the alternative.

Carlos turns just in time for Evie to crush him in an excited hug. "Hey Evie, uh, we don't hug around here."

Evie pulls out of the embrace and smooths over her dress. "Oh, right, sorry! Thank you for telling me! I really want to fit in but it's so hard! This is not at all what I expected school to be like!" she gushes.

There's a pause before she acknowledges Carlos's two companions. The boy she doesn't know of course, but she recognizes the girl with the purple hair. How could she forget. "Hi Mal."

Just the sight of the green-eyed girl has emotions stirring in Evie that she really can't deal with right now, but she schools her expression into something passive and pleasant, like her mother taught her, and stands tall. She refuses to crack or crumble from the weight in her chest before she even makes it to lunch.

It's been 10 years since Mal has heard Evie's voice, although it's changed now, it's silky and soothing and Mal is too mesmerized by the sound of it to speak in return.

"You might wanna drop the apologies and thank you's while you're at it," Jay chimes in with a helpful grin.

"And the annoyingly perky smile." Mal finds her voice again—and of course, it's an insult on her tongue. How could she not insult the girl who dares to stand there in a dress that looks like it was plucked out of a magazine, with a face full of perfectly done makeup and beautiful blue hair that falls over slender shoulders in inviting waves.

Evie frowns for only the briefest of moments before straightening up and smiling once again. "Oh—thank—got it! No hugs, no smiling, no apologies, no thank you's. I can do that!"

Mal can't help but notice how red Evie's lips are or how warm her eyes feel when they lock on her own. It's like Evie is still the same little girl Mal had known a decade ago. The little girl Mal would excitedly run to whenever she saw her with her mother in the marketplace. The little girl who would lace her fingers through Mal's own and tug along with her as they raced under tables and darted through booths.

As children, the pair would slip away and play amongst the market stalls while their mothers shopped and although it was only for an hour or so at a time, it was always the best part of Mal's week. It was well known throughout the Isle that Maleficent and the Evil Queen hated each other, the two powerful villains locked in a years-long battle for control of the Isle, so there could be no playdates or sleepovers. But the two girls would try to find each other whenever possible and sneak away to play. Eventually, they started scheming to get their mothers to the market on the same days so they could see each other more. Evie would plead with her mother for some new piece of fabric or bit of makeup that would make her look more like a princess. And Mal would destroy or hide random things so her mother would be forced to go into the market to get more on specific days she and Evie had decided on. They were secret best friends, Evie had told Mal once, so then why didn't Evie invite her to her stupid birthday party. Ten years and Mal's still pissed. Maybe she is more like her mother than she'd care to admit.

"I wouldn't mind a hug...if we got naked first," Jay says with a wink.

Evie scrunches her face in the boy's direction, studying him. "You're Jafar's son."

"I see my reputation proceeds me. Hello beautiful, I'm Jay," he greets with a little bow.

"Jay, shut up," Carlos groans.

"And I see you're still wearing that stupid crown in your hair," Mal notes.

Evie touches the small crown adorning her head with delicate fingers. "Of course."

"God, you're not 6 anymore Evie! It's time you outgrow that stupid fantasy about being a princess."

"My mother is a Queen, therefore, I am a princess!" Evie insists.

"Whatever you say," Mal scoffs. Mal remembers listening to a 6-year-old Evie talk about marrying a prince and living in a castle someday. At the time Mal had thought it all sounded boring and maybe a little silly, but Evie had been so excited when she spoke and Mal never had the heart to tell her friend what she really thought. She had even promised to visit—after she returned from all her super cool and dangerous adventures, of course. But Mal had grown up, she had no choice living on the Isle, and now she wants nothing more than to shatter Evie's childish fantasy like her own had been.

"Well, you certainly look like a princess," Jay says, effectively breaking up the tension that had settled between the two girls.

"Thank you!" Evie beams appreciatively before correcting herself. "I mean—yes, indeed I do!"

Jay laughs and leans in a bit closer to Evie. "Don't mind Mal, it's hard not to be grumpy when you got—"

"So help you gods if you make another comment about my panties being in a bunch!" Mal cuts him off with a growl.

"Actually I was going to go with stick up your ass, but that works too."

Evie's eyes widen at Jay's crass comment. "Oh my."

"Watch it, Jay, you're scandalizing the prissy little Princess," Mal sneers.

Jay leans against the locker, smirking at Evie as he blatantly checks her out. "If it's a scandal she wants, I can give it to her."

"Can you two cut it out," Carlos says as he closes what Evie realizes must be his locker.

Evie shoots him an appreciative look as she fidgets with the books in her arms and attempts to avoid Jay's gaze.

"Don't mind him, he's harmless," Carlos tells her when he notices the nervous look on Evie's face.

"Sorry, your majesty, are we offending your delicate sensibilities with our crude language?" Mal asks, laughing as she mock curtseys and rolls her eyes.

"I think perhaps I should go," Evie decides. "I'll see you around, Carlos. It was nice meeting you Jay." She pauses before addressing her former friend, offering a simple "Mal" in the girl's direction before slipping away.


	2. Chapter 2

On her second day of school, Evie has something called Physical Education scheduled for third period. Her schedule tells her it's in the gym, which she learned from Carlos on their walk to school that morning is located in a converted old tomb in the basement. She's a little wary of the physical aspect of the class but she strolls into the gym with a confident smile. Carlos had also informed her that Physical Education requires its own set of clothes and Evie always appreciates a costume change—though Carlos had pleaded with her not to refer to it as such in the presence of anyone else.

When she makes it to the gym, most of the girls are already in the middle of changing in the locker room. Evie hates being late but her previous class had been on the top floor and it's kind of difficult to run down four flights of stairs in 4-inch heels. Not that Evie would be ditching her heels in the future—her mother would never allow it.

"Better hurry, new girl, or you're going to have to stay after to run laps," some girl Evie has never met calls out with a smirk before slipping out of the locker room with a group of other girls. The entire group giggles as if something hilarious had been said and Evie just rolls her eyes—kids in this school sure did like mocking one another.

The locker room has mostly cleared out by time Evie finds a locker to put her stuff in and while Evie appreciates the privacy, she's not at all eager to do any sort of running after class. She makes quick work of pulling off her dress and putting on her gym attire and sneakers and heads out to join the rest of the class in the gym.

Her classmates are all sitting cross-legged on the gym floor, awaiting instruction from a man whose back is to Evie. Judging by his broad shoulders, Evie assumes he must be the gym teacher. Carlos had said P.E. was basically just group exercise with some silly games thrown in. Evie doesn't mind exercise, her mother has had her on an excessive schedule since she was three, but she's not so sure how she feels about group exercise. It's one thing to get sweaty and gross in the privacy of your own castle but in front of your co-ed P.E. class? Evie's sure her mother would have plenty to say about that.

Doing her best to be discrete, Evie slips behind the teacher's back and walks along the side to find a spot on the floor. Just as she's about to sit, a high pitched whistle pierces her ear and Evie jumps.

"Well, look who finally decided to join us!"

Evie spins around at the sound of the teacher's booming voice, the squeaking of her sneakers against the old wood floor echoing loudly through the gymnasium. Her eyes are wide as she takes in the man standing at the front of the gym, grinning at her with a whistle hanging from his neck.

Evie's heart thumps violently against her chest at the sight of him. His face remains unchanged, grinning at her expectantly—she supposes he probably was expecting her considering teachers had access to the class roster, but Evie couldn't possibly be more surprised to see him of all people standing at the front of the gym. School was supposed to be her safe place. Her out.

"I—I think I'm in the wrong place," she stammers out before racing out the back entrance of the gym. There's more laughter from her classmates but she doesn't care. She doesn't even stop to get her clothes or books out of her gym locker in her haste to escape.

The back of the gym exits into a winding staircase Evie has yet to come across. She doesn't know if that's because of its somewhat obscure location or because she's only had two days to explore the school. Despite her usual reluctance to enter spaces she's unfamiliar with, she darts up the stairs as the bile rises in her throat. She hears voices as she approaches the second landing and instantly isolates the source of one of the voices. As if this day could get any worse.

"Shouldn't you be in class, Princess?" Mal voice rings out in question as Evie pauses on the step before the landing, panting lightly. Perhaps she shouldn't have run up the first set of stairs while panicking.

Evie takes a moment to catch her breath and swallows the groan that threatens to spill from her throat at the sight of her antagonizer. Mal is perched on the banister, a can of spray paint in her hand and a smirk on her face. Jay stands to her side, leaning back against the railing watching her with his signature grin, while Carlos sits on the floor in front of them, fussing with what looks like a broken radio.

"Shouldn't you?" Evie shoots back. She's so not in the mood for Mal's bullshit right now. Her hands are shaking and she's not quite sure what to do with them so she balls them into fists at her sides and wills herself to calm down.

She catches Carlos staring at her with a somewhat confused look on his face. She looks down at herself and realizes she never changed out of her gym clothes and shakes her head as if to say 'don't ask'. He gives Evie an apologetic shrug in response before turning his attention back to his radio.

"Didn't take you for the skipping class type," Mal says, a smile spreading across her face at the sight of Evie's obvious annoyance. What can she say? She really did enjoy riling people up—especially spoiled princesses.

"That's because you don't know a thing about me," Evie snaps.

Mal hops down from the banister and tosses the spray paint can to Jay, who catches it easily. "This is our spot. You can't be here."

"_This_ is a staircase."

"And this staircase is our spot. Crew members only. You're not part of the crew so you can't be here." Mal steps forward and folds her arms across her chest with a smug expression.

With Evie still standing on the step below the landing and currently in sneakers, Mal stands taller than the blue-haired girl for once and eagerly takes advantage of her momentarily height advantage to glare down at Evie with all the contempt her tiny body can muster. "Beat it, Blue."

"Am I supposed to be intimated?" Evie laughs, purposely stepping up onto the landing and forcing Mal back.

"Be whatever you want. As long as you do it somewhere that's not our spot," Mal grounds out.

"Whatever."

Any other day Evie might have had the will to engage Mal in whatever this was, she'd probably enjoy doing so in fact, but she's too on edge at the moment to keep the charade up. Instead, she huffs and pushes past the other girl to continue her trek up the stairs—to where she's not exactly sure but she'll figure that out as she goes. She just needs to put some more distance between herself and the gym.

A hand wrapping around her wrists stops Evie in her tracks. Her eyes widen for only a moment at the touch and she swears her gasp is barely audible. She spins around to find Jay holding onto her with a gentle smile on his face. Remembering what Carlos told her about the overly flirty boy, she relaxes and tries not to pay too much attention to the way Mal is currently eyeing her from over Jay's shoulder.

"Ignore her. Stay and chat," Jay tells Evie with a playful look. He lets go of her wrist but stays in her personal space. Evie takes a small step back and hopes Jay doesn't notice. "So what class are you taking refuge from? I'm currently avoiding Unnatural Biology."

"Physical Education." Did he really think she'd wear these clothes willingly?

"What?! That's like the best class in this place!" Jay exclaims excitedly. "Have you played dodge ball yet? You get to pelt people in the face with balls! It's awesome."

"You're not actually supposed to hit anyone in the face," Carlos chimes in, too engrossed in his radio-tinkering to actually lift his head.

"Whatever," Jay waves him off. "So why the jailbreak?"

Evie shrugs and pulls at the ends of her hair—a nervous habit her mother was always correcting her for. "P. E. just isn't really my thing."

"What's the matter, Princess? Afraid your makeup might run if you break a sweat?" Mal mocks.

Evie chooses to ignore Mal and addresses the boys, namely Carlos because she doubts Jay is all that familiar with Dragon Hall's academic offerings. "C? Are there any alternatives to P.E. I can take? Like an Art class or some other elective? Anything other than P.E."

"Sorry, _Princess,_ you gotta take all the same classes as the rest of us commoners," Mal answers.

"Will you give it a rest! I'm not talking to you! I'm talking to Jay and Carlos so back the hell off!"

Evie didn't necessarily mind the nickname "princess", but she can't stand the way Mal says it.

Mal scowls at Evie's sharp tone. No one in school talks to her that way. "Watch it," she warns. Evie seems unfazed by the threat.

Carlos finally decides to abandon his radio on the floor and get to his feet. In all the years Carlos has known Evie he has never seen her lose her temper. When he finally looks at her he notices Evie's eyes are wider than usual and her hands are shaking. "Evie, what happened?"

"Is Gaston the only P.E. teacher?" Evie asks instead of answering.

Carlos looks at her with a curious expression and Evie silently pleads with him not to push her for answers right now. He seems to get the hint.

"Not a fan of Gaston?" Jay asks with a chuckle. "He's a pompous jerk but he's not so bad once you get to know him."

"I already know him," Evie mumbles quietly.

Carlos's head jerks back in Evie's direction at her statement. His mouth opens to form a question but Evie shoots him a glare that has him snapping his jaw shut before he can get it out.

Evie shakes her head softly at the concerned look on the boy's face to let him know now is not the time. In turn, Carlos sighs but relents. He couldn't exactly ask what was on his mind in front of Mal and Jay.

Mal watches the pair carefully, intrigued by the silent interaction. "Care to share with the class? No secrets in this crew."

"Good thing I'm not in the crew," Evie says with a satisfied smile before slipping past the three and walking up the staircase.

* * *

Mal scowls as she watches as blue hair disappears up the staircase. When she feels Evie is a sufficient distance away, she whirls around to address Jay. "What the hell was that?"

"That was Evie appearing to be completely unfazed by your threats. Not gonna lie, it was kinda hot to witness," Jay answers with a waggle of his eyebrows.

"No. I mean what the hell were you doing," Mal demands.

Jay shrugs as he pulls an apple out of his backpack and takes a bite. "Talking to Evie."

"After I told her to get lost and get out of our spot."

"Oh, come on," Jay drawls with a roll of his eyes. "We don't actually have a spot."

"Wherever we are is our spot," Mal insists.

"So we can't ever talk to Evie because if she stops to talk to us she'll be in our spot and that's apparently unacceptable to you?" Jay questions.

"Yes. Exactly. Glad you understand."

Jay shakes his head and takes another bite of his apple, shameless speaking with his mouth full. "Yeah, no, I call bullshit."

"Excuse me."

"I know you like to think of yourself as our leader or whatever, and we let you think that because it means more to you than to us," Jay says, glancing over at Carlos who nods in agreement. "But you don't get to dictate who we can and can't talk to. So I'm calling bullshit on your little Evie embargo and ignoring you. Evie's cool. I like talking to her."

Mal is fuming. Evie's only been in her school for two days and she's already disrupting Mal's life. She'd have to cut that girl down to size before she got the wrong idea about how things work on the rest of the Isle.

Mal rolls her eyes. "You can cut the flattery act, she's not here. Besides, I doubt you have to try that hard to get into her pants."

"I'm not only nice to girls I want to bang. I'm nice to you, aren't I?" Jay asks pointedly. "Besides, you don't know what's going to happen between me and Evie."

"Nothing's going to happen," Carlos mumbles. He's currently kneeling on the floor trying to collect all the various broken bits and pieces of his radio to shove into his backpack.

"I know girls like Evie. She'll probably let Jay fuck her by the end of the week. That girl has slut written all over her," Mal sneers.

"What's your problem?" Carlos snaps as he straightens up. "Evie's been nothing but nice to you and you're acting like a total bitch."

"Did you forget who I am? Who we all are?" Mal asks. "We're villain kids! We're not supposed to be nice! Besides, I don't need a reason to hate some frilly little princess but trust me, I have my reasons."

"Yeah? Name one," Jay challenges. It's not so much that he wants to be best buddies with Evie, she's hot but he doubts they have anything else in common, but he doesn't let anyone, not even Mal, decide who he can and can't be friends with.

"She's a snob who thinks she's better than us! She thinks because she grew up in some stupid fancy castle and calls herself a princess that we should all bow down to her! She's lucky she's been stuck in that damn castle for the last ten years because that prissy little princess wouldn't have survived a day on the streets with the rest of us! She should be thanking me for keeping her safe instead of trying to ruin my life and get in between me and my crew!" Mal rants.

Carlos shakes his head and shoulders his bag. "You have no idea what you're talking about."


	3. Chapter 3

"Sorry I'm late. Mother was being… well, mother," Evie explains flippantly as she folds her jacket over a chair and peeks in on a sleeping Cruella in the adjacent room.

Evie slipping into Hell Hall during the early morning hours to dust and polish furniture alongside an exhausted Carlos is not new occurrence—rather, it's been going on for years now, ever since Evie learned that Cruella DeVil regularly woke her son from his sleep to complete absurd tasks and countless chores while she screamed and threatened him from the comfort of her plush lounge chair.

"I'm guessing you made Mommy her morning cocktail today?" Evie asks with a smirk as she grabs the broom and dustpan from the corner. Carlos had already steamed and re-hung the drapes and there were only a few more tasks left to be done.

Carlos just laughs and continues polishing the cupboard. Evie had been the one to provide the boy with the so-called "sleeping potion" he regularly mixes into his mother's drink to give himself a respite from the woman's relentless shrieking and belittling.

From his understanding, the potion is just a mix of various roots and herbs Evie had read about in books Carlos had brought her that were known to aid sleep and could be found in the woods between their two houses. Carlos has inquired on multiple occasions as to why Evie didn't use the potion to help herself, but Evie always dismissed his question by saying it wouldn't be suitable for her particular needs. He wasn't entirely sure what Evie meant by that but he knew better than to push. Evie was painfully committed to pretending that what went on behind the walls of her mother's castle wasn't actually happening.

"Thanks for the help," Carlos says as he puts the last of the cleaning supplies back in the hall closet. His mother is thankfully still passed out on the couch and unable to criticize his work or demand he re-do it.

Evie smiles sweetly. "No worries. I happen to enjoy sweeping."

"No one enjoys sweeping." Carlos stops to brush some soot off his shirt and wipe his hands on his shorts.

Evie frowns and swats at his hand. "Are you seriously using the shorts I made for you out of _actual linen_ as some sort of dish rag?!" she scolds. Carlos flashes her a sheepish smile in apology and she rolls her eyes at him.

Evie's eyes then land on the red leather dog collar embellished with two studded crossed bones that Carlos is presently wearing around his neck. "What's with the collar?" she asks.

"Cruella's idea of a gift," Carlos explains. "I'll take it off when we leave the house."

"Your mother's crazy, you know that?" Evie muses. The woman treats her son like a literal dog, crazy was probably too kind a word.

"We should start a club," Carlos suggests.

Evie grins mischievously and loops her arm through Carlos's. "_The Crazy Mothers Club._ I'll be President."

Carlos throws his head back with laughter as he pulls the gate closed behind him and the pair start their walk to Dragon Hall. Carlos loves that Evie gets to go along with him to school now instead of having to return to that dreadful castle of hers after helping him with his morning chores.

The dirt beneath their feet is damp with morning dew and Carlos watches as Evie daintily steps to avoid the more prominent mud piles in their path. He can't help but think Evie doesn't belong here on the Isle, she's far too gentle and graceful, and yet he's selfishly grateful she's been handed the same crappy fate as the rest of them because he can't imagine not having her by his side.

"So how are things?" Carlos asks once Hell Hall and The Castle Across the Way have faded from view behind them.

"Good. Classes are a breeze and other than Mal's pissy attitude and a couple of overly flirty boys, no one's giving me too hard a time," Evie answers.

She had dropped his arm from her grasp not too long ago and was now walking a few steps ahead of him. She doesn't turn back to give her answer and Carlos finds himself wondering how she doesn't fall and break her ankles walking in those ridiculously high heels through the Isle's broken roads and rock-filled dirt paths.

"I meant at home," Carlos clarifies.

"Oh. Fine." Her voice shifts, sounding higher and more clipped and Carlos instantly knows she's lying even without seeing her face.

"Fine?" Carlos echoes skeptically. "Evie, come on, don't lie to me."

Evie comes to a stop and spins to face the boy with hard eyes and thin lips. "Then don't ask me questions I can't answer."

Carlos sighs. "So it hasn't stopped?"

"Has your mom stopped?" Evie shoots back.

"Of course not but it's not the same." His mother is an absolute nutcase and a total nag but she's got nothing on the Evil Queen.

Evie shakes her head before continuing to walk. "You always say that."

"Because my mother doesn't—"

"Carlos, please," Evie cuts him off. "I don't want to talk about her. I finally get a few hours a day away from her and that godsforsaken castle and all I want to do is not think about her during that time."

She sounds so resigned and hopeless and as much as Carlos wants to argue and push the issue, he knows how Evie gets when they discuss her mother and he's definitely not trying to piss his friend off before school. With a defeated sigh, he scoops up a handful of pebbles from the pavement and begins to toss them into the road.

"So what are you going to do about Gaston?" he asks when he runs out of pebbles. It's not a complete change of topic but he figures it's okay since he's not directly asking about her mother.

"Nothing. What can I do?"

"Did you try talking to Dr. Facilier about getting excused from P.E.?"

Evie chokes out a bitter laugh. "Yeah, and much like everything else in my life, it did not go as I had hoped. Apparently all students are required to take Physical Education. A direct mandate from the Auradon Education Council. And Gaston is the only Physical Education teacher."

"Auradon mandates we take gym?" Carlos asks with a curious twist of his head.

"Yep. Apparently the fine folk in Auradon have nothing to say about us be raised by monsters and degenerates, but they're absolute sticklers when it comes to physical fitness."

Carlos cracks a small smile at Evie's sarcastic reply but can't help but feel sad for her. "I'm sorry, Eves. Maybe you can just not go?"

"Not if I want to avoid getting detention again."

"You got detention for skipping P.E.?" Carlos asks incredulously.

Evie hums and nods. "Gaston found me in 6th period to personally deliver the message. I had to stay after school yesterday. Mother was not pleased." Evie scoffs, "I didn't even know detention was a thing in this school!"

"It's not usually. Most teachers don't care enough to give detention."

"Well, Gaston cared enough," Evie points out.

"I don't think care is the right word."

Of course, Gaston would go out of his way to give Evie detention for doing something that was practically encouraged by the faculty at Dragon Hall. Gods, Carlos hates that guy.

"Carlos, what am I going to do?" Evie poses the question with shiny eyes and a rare trace of desperation in her voice. "I can't stay late and go to detention every day I have P.E.; my mom freaks out if I'm not home by 4. And I'm not going to that creep's class."

"We'll figure something out," is all Carlos can offer in response. He pulls Evie into a one-armed hug and they walk the rest of the way with his arm across her back, separating only when Dragon Hall comes into view. He makes a promise with himself to do something about Evie's Gaston problem. Evie is always helping him—helping with his chores, mixing him the sleeping potion for his mother, bringing him pillows and blankets to sleep on, bandaging his cuts and scrapes when Cruella got carried away—and she never asks for anything in return.

* * *

The two friends go their separate ways once they reach school but Carlos can't get Evie's voice out of his head.

"_Carlos, what am I going to do?"_

The girl's desperate plea bounces around in his head in a relentless refrain until he finds himself doing something truly insane.

"Hey, Mal, wait up!"

He catches a glimpse of purple hair disappearing around the corner and chases Mal down in the south corridor just before lunch.

Mal waits for him to catch up to her, only sparing him a quick once over when he reachers her before returning to glancing disinterestedly at the passing students. Carlos notices the purple and green paint stains on her hands and feels a little hopeful—Mal was usually in a pretty good mood after vandalizing school property.

"You have P.E. third period days 2 and 4, right?" he asks.

"What's it to you?"

"Can you just answered the question," Carlos huffs, still a little breathless from his sprint through the halls. Mal may be one of his best friends (or closest allies if anyone was asking) but she's not exactly a winning conversationalist and Carlos is a little too tense for Mal's usual surliness.

Mal makes a show of rolling her eyes in response. "I don't know. I haven't actually bothered to go yet."

"Can you?"

"Can I what?"

Maybe this was going to be harder than Carlos thought. "Go to P.E. when you're supposed to."

"Now why the hell would I do that," Mal asks, eyebrow arching in suspicion.

"Because fitness is important?" he suggests with a smile.

"Try again."

A boy passes too close for Mal's liking, nearly bumping her shoulder, and she ever so helpfully shoves him clear across the hallway. The boy looks back only for Mal to shrug and wave her fingers at him with a smile.

Carlos sighs and offers Mal some of the truth. "Evie is in your class. I thought maybe this would be a good opportunity for you two to get to know each other again and put this stupid feud behind you."

Mal's expression shifts from cool indifference to, what Carlos can only describe as, down-right _murder-y_ in an instant.

"Now I have even more reason not to go," Mal says. "I also have reason to ask if you sustained some sort of head injury that made you think this conversation was a good idea."

"Never mind. Forget I asked," Carlos murmurs, not bothering to hide the disappointment in his voice. Okay, so asking Mal, of all people, to look after Evie in Gaston's class might not have been Carlos's best idea, but it was all he could come up with and he can't help but be a little bummed that Mal shot him down in a matter of seconds.

Mal eyes the forlorn boy with curious eyes as she presses her back against the lockers and checks out her paint-stained fingernails. "What's the deal with her and Gaston anyway?" she asks, trying to sound disinterested.

"I said forget it."

"No, if you want me to rearrange my schedule so that I can babysit your little friend then I deserve to know the truth," she presses.

"Technically you don't need to rearrange your schedule. P.E. is already in your schedule," Carlos points out.

"You know what I mean," Mal says with a roll of her eyes. "So what happened? Why does the princess have a problem with Gaston? Did he forget to curtsey?"

"It was a stupid idea. Just drop it." Carlos shakes his head and starts to walk away. He'll have to think of a new plan—preferably one that doesn't involve Mal.

"Let me guess," Mal drawls, pushing off the locker to follow Carlos. "They used to fuck and it ended badly? Evie totally seems like the type who would fuck old dudes like Gaston. Probably gets off on calling them Daddy too."

"Shut the fuck up, Mal," Carlos spits over his shoulder.

Mal's face splits in delight at the boy's obvious discontent. It was a total cheap shot-far from up to her standard of usual insult but Mal is pleased with the result nonetheless.

Mal had been far from thrilled to learn a member of her crew was keeping a secret friendship with her archenemies hidden from her. It made her look incompetent as a leader and if her mother ever found out, Mal would never hear the end of it. But Carlos was far too valuable to lose over such a transgression (not to mention she actually enjoyed the little runt's company), besides if she cut off Carlos, Jay would surely follow the boy and she can't have that. That spoiled princess wasn't worth losing her whole crew over. But that didn't mean Mal can't have some fun and ruffle some feathers for now. And Carlos made it so easy.

"Ooh struck a nerve, I see," Mal smirks, eyes dancing with mischief. "Maybe it wasn't just Gaston."

"I said shut up!"

Mal's grin only widens. "Aww did the pretty princess let little Carlos play with her pretty little p-"

Carlos turns on her with a growl, cutting her off and getting in her face. "I told you to shut the fuck up!"

Mal practically cackles at Carlos's reaction before brushing past him. When she turns her head to take a quick look back she sees the boy, red-faced and breathing hard, glaring at her. She's almost ashamed at how giddy the sight makes her.

* * *

"You still pissed at Mal?" Jay tosses his lunch tray down on the table and slides into the bench opposite Carlos. Carlos is not sitting at their usual table—the one Mal had etched their names into with her pocket-knife and threateningly declared off-limits to the rest of the student body and it had taken Jay a few minutes to actually find the boy.

Carlos only grunts in response, stabbing his spork at the dried-out brown slob on his tray that's supposed to be some sort of pasta.

"Because she won't stop being a bitch to Evie?" Jay asks around a mouth-full of pasta. Jay will pretty much eat anything and is the only one who never seems bothered by the less than appetizing offerings in the Dragon Hall cafeteria. It's not like being picky is going to get them anything but hungry and Jay can't afford to be hungry—he needs to keep his strength up if he's going to protect himself and his friends.

"What's going on between the two of you? Because if you two are a thing then I'll back off," Jay offers, reaching across to the table to help himself to Carlos's stale roll of bread. "You mind?"

Carlos waves him off and Jay rips into the bread with his teeth.

"We're not a thing. We're friends." _Friends._ A lofty word to throw around on the Isle and yet he's not at all hesitate to do so because Evie totally earned the title.

"Yeah about that. When did that happen?" Jay questions.

"A few years ago."

"Wasn't she banished or whatever. How'd you meet?"

Carlos sighs and studies Jay for a moment. Jay's focus is mostly on his lunch but he occasionally glances up at Carlos in genuine interest and Carlos decides Jay's not here to bust his chops. After his conversation with Mal had deteriorated into the girl taking cruel shots at Evie just to get under his skin, Carlos isn't in the mood for games. But Jay doesn't seem to have any ill-intentions or ill-will towards Evie.

"In the woods between our houses when we were 8. We were both running away," Carlos explains. He decides he's had about as much "pasta" as he can stomach and pushes the tray across the table to Jay, who quietly accepts it.

"From what?"

"Life," Carlos shrugs, mind drifting back to the night Evie had stumbled across him curled up on the cold forest floor and offered him refuge in the hollowed-out tree trunk she had been using as a hiding spot.

It's maybe too simple of an answer but it isn't Carlos's place to share Evie's story, and Jay's already familiar with his.

Jay nods in understanding and Carlos is thankful Jay isn't the type of person who needs to know everything. Shitty home lives were far from novel on the Isle and seeing as Jay rarely felt the need to discuss his own, Carlos isn't surprised he doesn't push to know more about Evie's just yet.

Carlos sighs. "I know Evie and Mal have history but I wish Mal would just lay off." He feels a little stupid for letting Mal get to him, but he'll give credit where credit is due, that girl certainly knows how to push the right buttons.

"Evie was the first person who ever gave a damn about me. She's a good friend and I'm not turning my back on her," Carlos adds firmly. Mal will just have to shut up and deal.

Jay reaches across the table to clap Carlos on the arm, sensing the boy's weariness. "Well, she seems like a cool chick. I'm glad she's around."

"Yeah, me too."

The two boys fall into an easy silence and Carlos watches in horror as Jay polishes off his second plate of pasta.

"How can you eat that crap?"

"Easy. Like this," Jay says, shoving the last spork-full of pasta into his mouth and purposely chewing with his mouth wide open.

"Gross. You're seriously gross, dude."

Jay just laughs as Carlos shakes his head in disgust and turns away.

"You two get lost or something?"

Carlos lifts his head to see Mal standing behind Jay with a scowl on her face.

"No?" Jay looks up at the purple-haired girl in confusion.

Mal rolls her eyes at Jay's answer. "This isn't our table, assholes."

"I'm leaving," Carlos announces. He grabs his bag and throws Jay a nod, completely ignoring Mal in the process. "Later, man."

Mal frowns, eyes following Carlos as he makes his way out of the cafeteria. When he's gone, she comes around the table to sit where Carlos had been sitting. "What's he all pissy about?" she asks.

"You," Jay answers.

"Gods. This isn't about Evie, is it?" Mal demands harshly. "I knew that little bitch coming here was going to cause me nothing but trouble!"

"Can you just chill? Maybe give her a chance—for Carlos. You know he would do it for you."

Mal's eyes narrow at the suggestion. "I would never ask Carlos to befriend his arch-nemesis!"

"Evie is your arch-nemesis?" Jay asks doubtfully. "Haven't you not seen each other in a decade?"

"So?!" Mal demands, slamming her palm against the table—which wobbles a bit at the contact.

Mal huffs and tries to shake off the feeling of fury rising within her. As the daughter of Maleficent, Mal has always prided herself on remaining calm and in control, she had no choice but to be—but there's something about Evie, that blue-haired princess wannabe, that knocks Mal's bearings loose and makes her feel absolutely unsteady. Mal hates her for it.

"Fine. Whatever," Jay concedes, sensing Mal's temper flaring. No use riling Mal up when there was no one nearby who needed a beating.

"It's not like Carlos is expecting you two to become best buddies and start braiding each other's hair and having pillow fights in your underwear…" he trails off before raising his eyes with a gleam, "although that'd be pretty hot."

"I swear I'll stab you right where you sit," Mal warns. Her fingers pick anxiously at the splinters in the old wooden picnic-style table. "This table is stupid. Carlos couldn't have picked a worse spot to eat," she grumbles. Of course, Carlos had to go and get all dramatic and refuse to eat at their usual lunch table. All because of some stupid jokes she made at Evie's expense.

"There's that sun-shiney attitude I love so much," Jay declares with a grin, earning himself a glare from the set of fiery green eyes across from him. "Look, this chick means a lot to Carlos and you know Carlos doesn't let many people get close to him so she must be alright. And if she's alright in Carlos's eyes, then she's alright by me. So if you insist on hating her, fine, but looks like you'll be the odd one out."


	4. Chapter 4

"Carlos, look! It locks and everything! See!" Evie exclaims excitedly.

Carlos is happy for his friend, he really is, but her high pitched squealing is drawing attention to them and Carlos doesn't exactly like attention. He glances around quickly to make sure the wrong people aren't paying them any mind. "Yeah, that's what lockers are supposed to do, Evie."

Evie tugs on her brand new locker door, opening it and closing it again for Carlos's benefit with a wide smile. "I can actually put my books and belongings in it now. I don't have to carry everything with me all day. Isn't that awesome?!"

"That's great, Eves," Carlos chuckles fondly.

There wasn't much levity in Carlos's life, and probably less in Evie's, but something about her childish excitement over something as simple as a functioning school locker made Carlos smile—discretely of course, he was happy for his friend, not stupid. Maybe it was because she had been sheltered from so many things for so long, or maybe it was just her nature, but somehow, despite the shitty hand she had been dealt in life, Evie still got excited over the small things.

Evie lets out an indiscernible squeal of excitement and claps her hands together before turning her attention back to her locker to re-organizing the few books she has in there for the fifth time.

"What are you so excited about?"

Carlos groans. Evie's excitement _had_ drawn attention—of course it did. No one in Dragon Hall squealed and clapped in the halls. He'd have to talk with her again about _quietly_ expressing herself at school.

"They fixed my locker! I have a door now. With a real lock!" Evie shares in response to Mal's question, not concerning herself with the fact that Mal hates her and probably doesn't actually care. She finally has her own space, small as it may be, and she's happy about it.

"Who's they?" Jay asks with an easy smile. He gives Evie an exaggerated once over and leans a shoulder against the locker adjacent to hers.

"The school. Well, the custodian, I suppose. Do we have custodians?" Evie wonders. "I put in a request with Dr. Facilier's office and—"

"Of course you did," Mal interrupts drily. "Not even here a week and you're already ordering people around and expecting the entire school to cater to you."

"It's their job. I'm sure they didn't mind," Evie says, sounding unsure.

Carlos glares silently at Mal, waiting to see just how far Mal will push things today. They haven't talked since yesterday and he's still pissed at her for saying all that shit about Evie.

"Oh, I'm sure they didn't. Not for you, Princess," Mal drolls with a roll of her eyes. "In all my time at this dump, I've never seen a single thing get fixed. The textbooks are garbage, the desks are falling apart, the plumbing in the bathrooms doesn't work for shit. But you show up and bat your eyelashes at the goons in Dr. Facilier's office and all of a sudden your locker is being personally serviced." She pauses and leans in towards Evie, curling her lips and dropping her voice suggestively. "So tell me, Evie, who did you have to _personally service_ to get treatment like that."

Evie's face pales and she shakes her head frantically, her eyes finding Carlos's. "I didn't!"

Carlos's eyes darken and his jaw clenches. "Knock it off, Mal."

Mal just grins back at him and Carlos scowls, dying to wipe the smirk off her face.

"Come on, Mal," Jay interjects, pushing himself off the locker in an attempt to ease the tension between his friends. "If someone in the office is sweet on Evie maybe we can use it to our advantage. Ask for more than to fix a busted locker. We can totally run this school." He gives Evie a grin to lighten the mood but she still looks pale and upset.

"No one's sweet on me. I just asked," Evie insists, voice growing quiet. Should she not have asked to have her locker fixed? Did she cross a line? She looks to Carlos for answers, worry creasing her brow.

"We're not using Evie for anything," Carlos says firmly, turning his shoulder to Mal and drawing Evie's attention back to her locker. "Hey, Evie, can I put some of my stuff in your locker for the day? You know, since you got the most secure locker in the place."

Evie brightens up instantly. "Of course! Ooh! Maybe I can decorate the inside! Get a mirror… err, maybe not a mirror," she trails off. "But something nice. Lights or stickers or something. Or I can line it with fabric! I have a bunch at home that I could use," she rambles, seemingly forgetting about Mal's little insinuation— much to Carlos's delight.

Jay chuckles at Evie's excitement. "You don't get out much, do you, Princess?"

"Oh shush up and let me enjoy this," Evie laughs, swatting Jay's bicep playfully.

"Sure thing, Princess."

Mal walks away from the group with a barely contained groan. It's only Evie's fourth day at Dragon Hall and she already has Jay and Carlos wrapped around her finger.

* * *

Evie and Carlos decide to actually attend Weird Sciences that morning, leaving Jay to amble the halls alone till lunchtime—Mal having sulked off previously. Jay busies himself breaking into lockers, ransacking teachers' desks, and pick-pocketing passing students till he has a pretty sizable collection of stuff to root through.

He finds an abandoned corridor to settle down in and begins to take inventory of the spoils of his labor. Must of it is junk, there's not much of value on the Isle to begin with, but he does manage to get his hands on some decent costume jewelry and a couple of pieces of silver that might fetch a few bucks at his father's shop.

He shoves everything he plans to bring to his father in his backpack and chucks the rest, save for one item.

"What's that?"

Jay doesn't bother lifting his eyes from his loot—instantly recognizing Mal's voice and the rattle of her spray paint can. "I don't know," he shrugs, turning the item over in his hand to admire it. "Some dangly crystal thing. Kinda cool, huh? Thought Evie might like it."

"Evie?" Mal growls. Her eyes narrow and her lips curl at the sound of the girl's name.

"Yeah, for her locker. She wants to decorate it. Figured she could make something sick out of this. Like a mini chandelier or some shit," Jay explains. If he's at all aware of Mal's state of simmering rage, he doesn't acknowledge it. His fingers pass over the hanging crystals, multi-colored and dangling from several stings tied around a large metal ring. Jay thinks it kind of looks like an oversized earring but he only found the one.

"You're stealing shit for her now?" Mal demands.

Jay shrugs yet again. "I steal shit for you all the time."

Jay is a gifted thief and while he mainly steals to keep his father's shop stocked (and his father off his back), he couldn't deny the rush it gave him. And so if he occasionally stole something that earned him a grin from Carlos or an approving glance from Mal, well that was just an added bonus. Evie isn't exactly his friend, she's more like friend adjacent, and Jafar would probably kill him if he found out Jay gave away something so valuable, but he likes the way Evie's eyes get wide and her voice gets high when she's excited about something.

"Are you comparing me to Evie?"

Jay rolls his eyes at Mal's attempt to intimidate him. "Of course not. I wouldn't dream of it."

"Good. I'll take that." Mal swoops down and swipes the item from Jay's hand, sauntering away with a smirk.

"Mal—what the hell?" Jay cries as he watches Mal retreat out of sight. He could easily get up and take it back from the girl but decides to let it go. Mal has been sullen and snappy all week and Jay's not exactly eager to engage her in some petty pissing match over junk he found in someone's locker. Mal's not taking Evie's enrollment at Dragon Hall in stride and he doesn't need to be adding fuel to the fire. He'll snag Evie something even cooler for her locker when Mal decides to give this feud stuff a rest.

* * *

She can't believe she's here, in shorts, because of _her._

Mal's eyes search the sea of students for blue, finding her target standing off to herself at the back of the gym. Evie's too distracted to notice Mal approaching, the girl preoccupied with furtively glancing at the front of the class and picking at the polish on her fingernails in a decidedly un-princess-like manner. Mal supposes the class had officially started a few minutes prior but she'd never dream of being on time.

"Smart move trying to turn Carlos against me. Didn't think you had it in you," Mal hisses in Evie's ear as she pulls up to the distracted girl.

Evie jumps at the sound of her voice, earning a small grin of satisfaction from Mal.

"Excuse me?" Evie only spares Mal a cursory glance. Her concentration seemingly fixed on whatever's going on at the front of the gym.

"Don't act all innocent. You know exactly what you're doing," Mal sneers.

If Evie thought she was going to get in the way of Mal and her crew, she had another thing coming. Mal had hoped Carlos would snap out of his infatuation with the annoying princess once Mal put her in her place, but instead Carlos is ignoring her while following Evie around like some kind of lost puppy. Mal won't stand for it—she, Carlos and Jay have history and it takes time to build a solid crew and she's far too busy to start over. So if she's currently doing exactly what Carlos asked of her and actually attending P.E. with Evie, well it's only so she can restore order to her crew like a good leader. She's not at all bothered by how upset Carlos appears to be with her and she's definitely not concerned with whatever's going on with Evie.

If the venom in Mal's voice has any sort of effect on Evie, the blue-haired girl does a skillful job of concealing such.

"What am I doing?"

Mal feels her cheeks grow hot with rage for the infuriating girl and her patronizing act of innocence. She follows Evie's gaze to see what's so damn captivating but all she sees is Gaston shoving a bunch of mostly deflated practice balls into a large netted bag at the head of the gym. Of course, Evie would be distracted by Gaston and his stupidly large muscles. Did Carlos really ask her to come to this pointless class just so she could watch the princess gawk at Gaston?

"Whining to Carlos about mean old Mal so he'd do something as stupid as asking _me_ to go to class with _you_," Mal spits between gritted teeth.

At that, Evie turns, her head tilting sideways with a curious expression. "Carlos asked you to come here for me?"

"Stop playing dumb. Your plan's not going to work," Mal huffs. "Make no mistake, you and I will never be friends. I don't care what Carlos says, I'm only doing this to get him off my back. See, I showed up like he asked so you'll have to come up with some other method of ruining my life because as far as Carlos is concerned, I'm doing my part."

"I'm ruining _your_ life?" Evie chokes out in disbelief. She's going to have to have a very long conversation with Carlos when she sees him. _Mal—of all people!_ What was that boy thinking!

"Look, I'm not sure what you did to get Carlos under your thumb, although I have a pretty good idea…." Mal trails off with a pointed look. "But eventually he'll get bored of you and then he'll drop this absurd idea that we should all get along."

Evie shakes her head with a bored sigh. She's getting tired of Mal's less than subtle innuendos. As if she would ever engage with Carlos sexually. "You're sounding more ridiculous than usual."

"Is that what happened with Ol' Gaston over there? He get bored of you too?" Mal taunts, tongue clicking against the roof of her mouth in faux pity. "Don't take it personally, Princess, Gaston likes variety. He's got a different girl on his arm every week."

Evie takes a deep breath, refusing to allow Mal the satisfaction of seeing her carefully crafted mask slip from her face.

Evie knows exactly what Gaston likes.

"I don't know what Carlos said to you but I can assure you the last thing I want is _your _company," Evie snaps sharply.

Mal smiles, pleased with herself for getting a rise out of the girl. It was almost too easy. "Well, Princess, guess it's time you learn you don't always get what you want."

Evie turns on her suddenly, eyes flashing red with anger as blue-hair whirls around her perfectly-painted face. "Gods! What is your problem?!"

"You are!" Mal fires back, easily matching the blue-haired girl in intensity.

"Alright, people, line up! It's time to stretch!" Gaston's voice echoes throughout the large hallow tomb that serves as the school's gymnasium.

Mal groans as she gets into position beside Evie and makes absolutely no attempt to mimic the stretches Gaston is demonstrating at the front of the gym.

"Backs straight! Arms forward!"

Mal rolls her eyes so hard she almost topples backward. "Ugh. Kill me now."

"Bend at the waist! Fingers to your toes!" Gaston calls, weaving through rows of standing students to survey the class with a hand on his hip and his shoulders thrown back. "Don't think I don't see you slacking off out there! If you want to be weak and frail your whole lives, then be my guest!"

He closes in on where Mal and Evie are standing and Mal is sure Gaston is about to chew her out for not doing the warmups but instead, he comes to stand behind Evie.

Mal watches as Evie breath catches in her throat and her body stiffens as Gaston nears. The stretches she had previously been doing with ease suddenly become difficult as she stumbles under Gaston's intense gaze.

"Bend at the waist, Evie," Gaston says from behind the blue-haired girl.

Evie's hands shake as she bends and reaches for her toes. Gaston stands behind her, his eyes glued to her ass as she struggles to follow his simple instruction. Mal rolls her eyes at the teacher's blatant staring.

"There you go, that's my good girl," Gaston praises as his hands come to grip Evie's waist from behind. "Mmmhmm, all the way down, just like that." Evie's hips jerk forward and she almost falls over at the contact.

Mal's lips curl disgust. "I think she's got the hang of it," she snaps, unable to stand Gaston's lascivious grin any longer.

Gaston pulls back from Evie and winks unabashedly at Mal. "Oh, I'm sure. This one's a quick learner."

With that, he walks off to break up a fight between two boys a couple of rows over. Evie remains tense, body rigid and eyes staring straight ahead.

"Has he always been that creepy or do you just bring out the pervert in people?" Mal snarks.

Not surprisingly, she receives no answer from the girl but Mal decides maybe she'll attend a few more P.E. classes before she completely blows Carlos's request off.

* * *

It takes Evie longer than she'd like to get dressed after P.E. Her hands are still shaking and Mal's lingering in the locker room pretending not to be watching her. All the other girls have cleared out, leaving Evie alone with her biggest antagonizer. It's all a little unnerving but when she finishes lacing her heeled boots and lifts her head she finds that Mal is gone too.

Evie's eyes sweep the locker room cautiously, making sure she truly is alone. She spots a black and purple notebook sitting on the bench where Mal had been perched moments ago. Before she can think better of it, Evie's feet are shuffling forward and her fingers are curling around the worn-out notebook that bears the letters _M A L_ in scrolling etching at the top.

Upon closer inspection, Evie realizes it's not just a notebook, it's a sketchbook and Mal has drawn a large picture of a purple dragon on the cover. There are smaller doodles surrounding the dragon—a snake, crossbones, a crown. Evie traces the tip of her finger along the crown sketch, a small smile on her lips at the detail Mal has included.

With how quickly Mal disappeared, Evie figures the purple-haired girl most likely took the staircase closest to the locker room. With one last cautionary glance in the direction of the gym, Evie starts jogging up the stairs.

She catches Mal three flights up and her face breaks out into a wide smile, thankful for her long legs—or Mal's short ones for that matter.

"Mal!" she calls between panting breaths.

Mal spins around, her look of confusion quickly giving way to annoyance. "What do you want?"

"You left this in the locker room."

Evie holds out the book for Mal to see and Mal snatches it from her hand unceremoniously.

"My sketchbook. What'd you steal this when I wasn't looking?" Mal accuses.

"Yeah, I stole it just so I could give it right back to you," Evie snorts at the accusation. "It must have fallen out of your bag in the locker room, you dimwit."

Mal narrows her eyes, hugging the book to her chest protectively. "You didn't go sticking your big nose where it doesn't belong and snoop through it did you?"

Evie touches her nose gently. Was it big? "No, I didn't look through it. You're quite talented though."

Mal puffs her chest out in challenge, teeth peeking through her snarl. "I thought you said you didn't look."

"I didn't. You doodled on the cover."

"I don't doodle."

Evie blows the air out of her cheeks in frustration, Mal's relentless peevishness growing tiresome. "Right."

"What are you waiting for?" Mal asks at Evie's lingering. "A hug?"

"A thank you would be nice."

It's Mal's turn to snort now. "That's not going to happen."

"I didn't think so," Evie says quietly.

Mal holds her gaze for a tad longer than Evie's comfortable with and Evie eventually looks away with a sigh. She thought perhaps Mal would take the retrieval of her sketchbook as some sort of peace offering, but Mal's cross behavior just confirms what Evie has come to realize this past week: Mal's not interested in peace.

"Why did my mother say you could leave your castle and come to school?" Mal asks finally, halting Evie in her tracks.

"Some people know when to let go of a stupid grudge," Evie shrugs, although her heart thumps at the question.

Mal shakes her head with a humorless laugh, not buying Evie's answer. "Not my mother. There had to be a reason."

"I'm afraid I can't help you with that," Evie sings, hoping she's not over-doing the nonchalance.

"This has to be a set-up to one of her schemes," Mal decides, stalking across the floor to point and glower in Evie's face. "She probably has something planned for you! Something truly evil! You're going to wish you had stayed in that decrepit old castle of yours!"

Evie's brow arches at Mal's ominous claim. "I seriously doubt that."

"You doubt my mother?" Mal demands harshly. "She's the evilest villain on this stupid island!"

"I doubt anything Maleficent may or may not have planned for me can make me long for my mother's castle," Evie says calmly, turning on her heels and leaving Mal, angry and bewildered, behind.


	5. Chapter 5

When Mal shows up at Dragon Hall on Friday it's nearly lunchtime. She had stayed in bed sulking all morning long, her bad mood from the previous evening worsening when she finally descended the stairs of Bargain Castle to be greeted by her mother, who called her weak and lazy for pouting and sleeping in.

Maleficent didn't actually care whether Mal attended school or not, she only cared how Mal's absence reflected on her. Being absent to plot or scheme? Perfectly acceptable in Maleficent's book. Being absent because your childhood best friend turned present enemy did something kind like return your sketchbook and made you momentarily forget you hate her which then sent you into extreme emotional turmoil? Not acceptable at all.

Mal returned to the run-down castle she shares with her mother last night after blowing off some steam with Jay after school. She had been on edge from all the one-on-one time she spent with Evie and Jay readily agreed to accompany her on her warpath. The pair spent hours running around the Isle, thieving and terrorizing the masses. After Mal had made three different children cry and Jay had stolen some much needed supplies for their hideout, the two parted ways and went to their respective homes.

Not that she'd ever admit it out loud, but Mal is grateful for Jay's companionship. He doesn't question her moodiness or try to push her to talk; he just walks beside her in the shadows and occasionally calls her out on her shit when necessary. And while Mal suspects Jay's aware that her recent unrest is due to Evie's sudden re-appearance in her life, she can't exactly explain to him why the blue-haired girl gets her so worked up—because she's not so sure herself.

She tells herself it's because Evie didn't invite her to her 6th birthday party. It's been ten years and she should probably be over such a slight, but grudges are kind of the family business. Mal still feels a sharp stab of hurt in her chest whenever she thinks back to the day she showed up at Castle Across the Way convinced there must have been a mistake or that her invite to Evie's party must have gotten misplaced.

The whole Isle had been talking about the party in the days leading up to it, surely if all those people who didn't matter to Evie were invited, Mal was too. Except she wasn't greeted at the door by an excited Evie throwing herself into Mal's arms and then leading her off by the hand to reign over the party by her side. Instead she was coldly turned away by the Evil Queen, Evie standing behind her mother in the doorway, dressed up in a frilly red and blue dress with a tiara perched on her head of perfectly curled sapphire locks. Mal called past the scowling woman to her friend but Evie remained silent, hiding behind her mother with her eyes cast downward as the Evil Queen berated Mal for being unsavory and unsuitable for her daughter.

When Mal returned home to her own mother, she was still holding the gift she had made for Evie in her hands—a leather-bond notebook like her own for Evie to sketch her designs in. It wasn't until her mother questioned her about the package, which Mal had painstaking wrapped in old newspapers and tied with twine, that Mal realized she was still holding onto the stupid thing. When she threw it on the floor in rage and burst into tears her mother angrily chastised her for having an emotional outburst like some sort of _pathetic human._ At her mother's scolding, Mal pulled herself together just enough to tell her mother what had happened. Her mother's face grew tighter and angrier as Mal spoke but when she was finished Maleficent just nodded and clasped her hands together.

"I'll take care of it," Maleficent vowed. "And after I do, I never want to hear that dreadful brat's name ever again! You will not speak of the Evil Queen, or her daughter, and you will certainly not indulge yourself in such vulgar displays of emotion ever again!"

And that was that. Mal didn't see Evie again. She was too afraid to ask her mother what happened to the girl as Maleficent's hatred for the Evil Queen only seemed to grow after that day, but not too long afterwards she overheard some women in the market square gossiping about Maleficent banishing the Evil Queen to her castle. Mal was glad to hear her mother's solution didn't involve killing her former friend, but she was also glad Evie was being punished for being such a bad friend.

At first, Mal thought of Evie all the time—she wondered what Evie was doing and what she would say if she ever saw her again. She imagined all the ways she'd tell Evie off and make her cry for hurting her. Sometimes she'd imagine Evie apologizing to her and asking to be friends again.

But as time went on, Mal thought of Evie less and less—she had to, it hurt too much to remember how she felt standing in the doorway of The Castle Across The Way all those years ago. And even despite her mother's warning, she still missed the girl who had once been her best friend. But her mother would punish her if she even suspected Mal was sad over Evie and so she had to push Evie from her mind as much as possible, because thinking about her best friend only ever made her sad.

And then Evie had shown up at school unannounced—breezing through the halls with so much grace and poise and even more beautiful than Mal remembered. Suddenly, Mal was forced to confront the feelings she had been suppressing for ten years and she didn't like it.

It didn't feel good to see Evie hug Carlos or laugh at Jay's jokes and wonder what she might have missed out on for all these years. So Mal did what she did best—she shoved any confusing feelings she may have had aside and latched onto the only emotion she's even been comfortable showing: anger.

Today concludes Evie's first week at Dragon Hall and Mal has taken every available opportunity to lash out and make the girl miserable. So why did Evie have to chase her down in the halls after P.E. just to return her stupid sketchbook? And why did Evie look at her with a soft smile and expectant eyes like she was just waiting for Mal to give her permission to take her by the hand once again? And why the hell didn't Evie point out the crown Mal had sketched on the cover of her book—the crown that looked suspiciously like the one Evie wore on her head and revealed way more than Mal was ready to. Why did Evie let her off so easy when she could have torn Mal to shreds with the secrets contained in that book?

Evie swore she didn't look inside the sketchbook and so help her gods, Mal actually _believes_ her. Mal doesn't even take the word of her closest allies Jay and Carlos at face value because to trust on the Isle is to get played and Mal is no fool, but Evie speaks to her in that soothing honey-coated voice of hers and Mal accepts her words as if they're the only truth Mal has ever known.

It's only been a week and Mal can already feel her armor cracking. She can't afford to let someone make her so weak and off-balanced. She's the daughter of Maleficent and no matter what it takes, she will remain on top.

The tiny blue and gold crown stares back at her from the front of her sketchbook like some sort of beacon of ridicule and weakness. Mal shoves the book into her locker with a disgusted growl and pulls a can of spray paint from inside. Her locker closes with a clank and Mal walks off with a smile and a plan.

* * *

The cafeteria is already half-full when Mal walks in. She brushes her paint-covered hands against her leather pants and lets her eyes scan the room. She catches sight of Jay walking over to their table with an tray of meat casserole and mushy pea soup He grins when he notices her and motions for her to sit down as he slides into his own seat.

"Didn't think you'd show," he greets her.

Mal shrugs, helping herself to the seat opposite him. "Yeah, well, what else was I going to do all day."

Jay just shoots her a knowing look and starts shoveling food into his mouth.

"So where's Carlos?" Mal asks, trying not to sound too suspicious.

"He'll be here. He and Evie were working on some science project or some shit. They said they'd meet me here."

Mal raises a brow. "They?"

"Carlos didn't think you were coming in today so he invited Evie to eat with us," Jay explains around a mouthful of meat. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"No problem at all," Mal smiles as her eyes once again sweep the room. "Now if you excuse me I have some mystery meat to procure."

"Get me another plate!" Jay calls out as Mal rises from the table. .

Mal waves her hand at him and makes her way over to a younger boy standing awkwardly against the wall trying to balance his tray in one hand as he ate. There aren't enough tables in the cafeteria for every kid to have a seat so some of the less intimidating villain kids have to stand or sit on the floor at lunch.

Mal had a prior run-in with this particular boy—LeFou Deux, the son of LeFou. Like his father and namesake, LeFou Deux was a bumbling fool and had earned Mal's ire when he stepped on her foot and scuffed her freshly waxed boots a couple of months ago. Mal had let him off with a warning after Carlos stopped her from pummeling the little idiot on the spot. Carlos made the rather rational argument that LeFou would make a better lackey than punching bag—with spineless brown-nosing being in his blood and all. Of course Mal had wanted to punch the kid senseless but she couldn't deny the logic of Carlos's plan to use the boy's fear and desire to please her to her advantage sometime down the line. So she warned the boy that she'd be back to collect from him whenever she saw fit and left him sniveling and fumbling in the hallway.

Well, today is collection day.

After a brief but pointed chat with the boy, Mal leaves—but not before snatching his tray from his hands with a simple "I'll take that" and sauntering back over to Jay.

"Here," she says pushing LeFou's tray towards Jay.

"Where's yours?"

"Not hungry," Mal says.

Jay just shrugs and continues eating his meat casserole. Isle food was pretty hard to stomach and it's not unusual for someone to choose to eat nothing instead of the pitiful offerings of the Isle.

Mal's leg bounces under the table, her eyes repeatedly flying to the door as she drums the fingers of her right hand along the tabletop. There's only about twenty minutes left of lunch and Carlos and Evie have yet to show.

"You alright? You seem kind of wired," Jay asks, noticing Mal's less than composed state.

"I'm good," Mal brushes him off. "You sure they're coming?"

"Who?"

"Carlos and Evie."

"They said they'll be here," Jay says. "Is that what's got you so wound up?"

"I am not wound up!" Mal glares at him.

Jay laughs easily. "Sure you're not, but seriously, no need to sweat it. Carlos seems less pissed with you today."

Mal perks up at Jay's confession. "He does?"

"Yeah, something about Evie and P.E.?" Jay trails off, his interest in the conversation waning as he spots a couple of pretty girls a few tables over smiling at him.

_Shit._ Mal pulls her bottom lip between her teeth and lets her eyes fall closed for a moment. The only reason Mal had even been in that stupid locker room was because of Carlos. If he hadn't been such a killjoy about this whole Evie situation, she would have never gone to P.E. in the first place and she would have never left her sketchbook behind for Evie to find. If it wasn't for her actually sort of caring about Carlos, she wouldn't currently be in this emotional clusterfuck of a situation. And of course after all the effort she put forth to keep the little runt happy, she had actually forgotten to tell Carlos that she had done what he asked. Damn Evie for getting in her head.

Mal's stomach sinks a bit at the thought—she has a feeling Carlos is going to be more pissed than ever after today. She doubts herself for only a minute before deciding Carlos will get over it. He'll see that aligning himself with Evie is useless; Mal is the far superior ally to have on the Isle and Carlos is too smart to lose the protection she offers him. Clearly her mother had been right—friends do make you weak. Look at the predicament she's found herself in all because she wanted to keep Carlos from sulking.

"Uh, hey."

Mal's head snaps up at the sound of Carlos's voice. She had been too lost in thought to notice him approaching. "Carlos!" Mal exclaims, instantly cringing at the awkwardness of her voice.

Carlos peers back at Mal curiously, one hand in his pocket and the other balancing a tray of food. Evie stands at his side, her own tray in hand. She doesn't address Mal or Jay, eyes blinking as if she's waiting for something—most likely an insult, Mal thinks. But Mal has different plans for today.

"Carlos, sit," Mal says, flashing just the barest hint of a smile so that her words come across as more of a request than a command. "Come on. You too, Evie. Have a seat," she prods at his reluctance.

Evie eyes brighten with surprise and suspicion but it's Carlos who speaks, betraying his own uncertainty with a dramatic raise of his eyes. "You'd be cool with that?"

"Of course. Evie did me a solid by returning my sketchbook to me yesterday; it's only right I repay her kindness."

Evie's expression shifts and her face relaxes into a genuine smile. "Thank you, Mal. That's very thoughtful."

"That's me. Full of thought," Mal grins back.

Carlos seems less sure but wordlessly slips onto the bench, keeping his eyes on Mal as he does. Evie follows his lead and sits down as well, taking the seat beside Jay, opposite of Mal and Carlos.

"Hey Evie," Mal begins casually. "You didn't happen to stop by the lockers on your way here, did you?"

Evie shakes her head as she primly folds a paper napkin in her lap. "No. We didn't have time. It was so late by the time we finished working and Carlos thought it'd be best we come straight here to eat before they stopped serving food. Or whatever this is," she explains, poking at the meat on her tray with her spork.

"Why?" Carlos asks, eyeing Mal suspiciously.

"No reason," Mal smiles innocently. "I was just wondering how that new locker door was working out for Evie."

Carlos and Evie exchange looks but thankfully Jay takes over the conversation with his latest tale of narrowly escaping the henchmen at the docks who caught him snagging a box from the barge and the tension seems to dissipate.

Mal looks on as Carlos and Evie quietly exchange some of the food on their trays—she shovels half her meat into his plate and he gives her all his peas and tears apart his bread to share. The familiar exchange strikes a chord of jealousy in Mal's heart, although she's too afraid to confront which of the pair she's jealous of.

So what if Carlos and Evie are close—it's not like Mal's thinking about how she used to save her apples to bring to Evie when they were kids and in exchange Evie would sneak her some grape jam from the Evil Queen's secret stash.

Mal clears her throat and refocuses on the plan. "So Evie," she says, drawing soft brown eyes to her. "That's a lovely necklace you got there."

Evie's fingers delicately touch the ruby crowned heart hanging from her neck.

"Bet I could fence a pretty penny for it down at my father's shop," Jay chimes in with a low whistle. Being the Isle's best thief, of course he had noticed the necklace the second he laid eyes on Evie, but he doesn't usually steal from a chick before he's gotten the chance to get her into bed—it tends to spoil the mood.

"This? Thank—my mother gave it to me. It's very special to me," Evie beams. She stops herself from thanking Mal but she can't help but smile at the compliment. Mal has been so rotten to her from the moment she stepped foot inside the building, maybe this went they were finally turning a page. Maybe she and Mal could actually be friends again.

"The only thing my father has ever given me is a beating," Jay mumbles as he shovels another mouthful of mystery meat casserole into his mouth.

Evie frowns, her face taking on a more somber expression. "I'm sorry to hear that, Jay. Jafar can be quite ill-tempered."

It isn't a question and Jay wonders what Evie had possibly heard about his father, but before he can raise the question, he's interrupted.

"Yeah, well, not everyone has mommies who treat them like royalty and throw gifts at their feet," Mal cuts in with a sneer, all traces of affected good-will gone.

"No, I suppose they don't," Evie agrees easily. Maybe Mal isn't ready to be friends again. Evie doesn't let herself dwell too long on the disappointment. The day her mother gave her the necklace is one of the few good memories Evie has of the woman and despite all the pain her mother has caused her, Evie could never bring herself to part with the sacred jewel.

"It's a wonder King Adam and the royal council in Auradon didn't think of that before leaving a whole generation of kids to be raised by the very same villains they deemed too volatile and dangerous to occupy the same land as them," Evie adds, earning herself inquisitive looks from Jay and Carlos. She shrugs off the attention and brings a spoonful of pea soup to her mouth. It's cold and starting to spoil and Evie wrinkles her nose at the taste but continues to eat.

"What would you know about it?" Mal snaps, not in the mood to be condescended to about _her island_ by some sheltered princess. "You haven't had to put up with half the shit the rest of us had to! If you ask me, my mother did you a favor!"

Evie tilts her head to the side, the curious look on her face betraying her skepticism of Mal's statement. Carlos stops eating and shifts tensely in his seat, his eyes carefully watching Evie.

"What's the matter, Princess? Was your castle too big? Too many pillows on your king size bed?" Mal continues in a mocking tone.

"Actually, my bed is a queen" Evie says sweetly, red-painted smile spreading across her face as she looks Mal directly in the eye. "Like I will be one day."

"Ooooooh! Damn, Princess!" Jay howls with laughter at Evie's witty remark.

Carlos shoots Evie an approving smirk from across the table, painfully aware of the green-eyed girl beside him glaring daggers in Evie's direction. Mal never did appreciate a snappy comeback—she was more of a _brutal insult_ type of girl, emphasis on the 'brutal'.

"Okay, so I gotta ask," Jay says, eyes dancing between the two girls. "What's the deal with you two?"

"There is no deal," Evie answers with a noncommittal shrug. She sees no need to rehash decade's old drama.

"Of course _you_ would say that," Mal scoffs. "Your birthday party? Remember?"

"Oh, come on, Mal, that was ten years ago! We were children!" Evie cries.

Evie, of course, knew how this feud with Mal all started, but the party was so long ago and they had been so young. How could Mal still resent her so much over something that happened when they were six-year old? Mal had had her banished to her castle, certainly that had been punishment enough.

"So?!" Mal snaps. " I thought we were friends!"

"We were! You were my best friend!"

"You usually invite your best friend to your birthday party, Evie!" Mal challenges, desperately trying to hold onto the decade-old feelings of rage and betrayal that have been spurring her on since Evie reappeared in her life.

"Of course I wanted to invite you," Evie says softly. "I made your invitation myself and everything but mother wouldn't allow it. You know how she feels about your mom."

"Oh please," Mal scoffs, tossing her head back to keep her tears from falling. "Like you couldn't stand up to your mother? You stood up to mine and she's way scarier than the Evil Queen. What'd dear old mommy do? Threaten to take your makeup away? Just admit it, E, you sold me out. You didn't even bother to fight for me."

_Mal drifts back to the day in the market when Maleficent had caught her and Evie playing under one of the market tables. Evie had brought two dolls she made from her mother's discarded yarn with her from home that day. As soon as their mothers looked away, Evie pressed a doll with blue hair into Mal's hand and hugged a purple-haired doll to her tiny body. _

_At first, Mal protested and informed Evie that dolls were stupid and said she didn't want to play with them. But when tears started to pool in Evie's big brown eyes, Mal quickly told her she didn't mean it and pulled Evie under the table to play. She would have done anything to stop Evie from crying. _

_Evie grinned and laughed as Mal made her doll dance and talk to Evie's doll in silly voices. _

"_See, your doll looks like me because she has blue hair and my doll looks like you because she has purple hair," Evie pointed out after Mal's doll had saved Evie's from a hungry crocodile. _

"_So why don't you keep the doll that looks like you and I'll keep the doll the looks like me?" Mal asked. _

"_Because this way I get to take my best friend home with me and you do too! And we can play without having to hide!" _

_Mal grinned happily. "What should we make them do next?" _

_Evie's eyes lit up. "Kiss! Like in the storybooks!" _

_Mal nodded excitedly and continued playing until her mother's chilling voice cut through their excited giggling like a blade. _

"_Mal?! Mal! You get out from under there right this instant!" _

_Mal's eyes widened and locked with Evie's. The two little girls moved closer to each other instinctively, holding their breath and clutching each other's hands in fear of what Maleficent might do. _

"_Do not try to hide from me, girl. I know you're under there, I heard your ridiculous giggling! Now, come out here!" Maleficent roared. _

_Mal shook slightly, her body trembling as she kneeled on the dirty pavement. "She sounds mad," she whispered to Evie. _

"_It's okay. I won't let her hurt you," Evie quietly assured her. _

_If Evie wasn't scared then Mal wasn't going to be. Mustering up all the courage her six year old self could find, Mal crawled out from under the market table and stood tall in front of her mother. Evie followed right behind her, standing up confidently with her Mal inspired doll in her hand. _

_Maleficent's hard green eyes narrowed in on the girls, a sneer of disgust leaving her lips as she harshly yanked her daughter over to her. Mal cried out, her tiny body easily falling against her mother's. _

"_Sneaking off to play dolls with the brat of that vain bloated witch! Pathetic!" Maleficent ripped the doll from Mal's hand and threw it to the ground. "And you're not even good at sneaking around! You're shaping up to be nothing but a disappointment!"_

"_Evie's not a brat! She's my friend!" Mal countered defiantly. She twisted and turned in her mother's grasp but Maleficent's grip only grew tighter. _

"_Friend? Friend!" Maleficent bellowed. "Don't you ever use that word again! You do not have friends, you understand me, Mal? Friends are for the weak! Are you weak?" _

_Her mother punctuated every statement, every question, by shaking the child in her grasp. Mal let out a quiet whimper as tears pricked at her eyes and her teeth chattered._

"_Stop! You're hurting her!" Evie cried out. The small blue-haired girl rushed forward and grabbed hold of Maleficent's forearm, trying in vain to loosen her grip on Mal. _

"_Shoo, brat! Begone!" Maleficent merely swatted at girl but Evie ducked and clung on. _

"_Let her go!" Evie cried, face pinched with intent._

_And then Maleficent let out a surprised yelp and suddenly Mal was tumbling to the ground, free. _

"_That little brat bit me!" Maleficent cried in disbelief, her hand rubbing at the spot on her forearm where Evie had sunk her teeth into. "You must have a death-wish, little girl," she threatened. _

_Evie stared back at the woman towering over her, hand on her hip and chin held high. "No one hurts my friend." _

_Maleficent cackled, clapping her hands together and tossing her head back. "Do you see that, Mal? Everyone's more evil than you! Even the daughter of that pretentious waste of sorcery, the Evil Queen!" _

Mal shakes herself from her memories and finds Evie's gold-tinted eyes staring back at her.

"That's not true, Mal. I did fight for you," Evie insists, voice strained with emotion. "And you had me banished to my castle, all alone with my _mother. _My life has been a living hell and you don't even care!_"_

"Yeah, well, you deserved it," Mal says defiantly. Her vision is blurred with tears but she can make out the unmistakable look of hurt on Evie's face. "Just like you deserve this."

Confusion flickers across Evie's face for the briefest of moments as Carlos jerks his head up—mouth opening in a warning that never makes it to his lips. Suddenly Evie is jumping from her seat and shrieking loudly as cold pea soup is poured over her head from behind.

Mal acknowledges LeFou Duex with a nod and the boy turns and runs, slipping and sliding in his soup-stained shoes. He may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he got the job done.

Evie's gasps and sputters, spoiled green slop running down blue hair and into the girl's open mouth. Her eye-lashes are caked with mushy peas and she wipes at them with trembling fingers, shaking her soiled hands off at her sides. Her beautiful blue and white dress is completely ruined with green stains and she suspects the smell won't be easy to rid herself off.

Evie's eyes bore into Mal's, angry and hurt, but Mal just grins in wicked satisfaction as she listens to the raucous laughter of the student-body at Evie's expense.

Jay shakes his head somewhat apologetically in Evie's direction but ultimately doesn't seem too fussed by the whole scene.

"You were right, Carlos," Mal smirks, wrapping an arm around the boy's shoulders. "LeFou was totally useful."

Evie's face falls as tears spring to her eyes and her mouth quivers, no longer worried about who sees her cry.

"What the hell, Mal!" Carlos angrily shrugs Mal off and leaps out of his chair. "Evie, I swear I didn't know she—"

But Evie if gone—spinning on her heals and running towards the bathroom before Carlos can get his explanation out.

"Why'd you have to go and do that for?" Carlos demands, turning to glare at the purple-haired girl.

Mal just shrugs. "Relax. It was just a little prank."


	6. Chapter 6

Carlos hesitantly pushes the bathroom door open a crack, glancing back towards the hall to make sure no one's watching. The last thing he needs is to be caught sneaking into the girls' bathroom and labeled a creep.

"Uh, hello? Evie," he calls, trying to peer through the crack between the door and the frame to see inside. "Eves, you in there?"

"Go away Carlos," comes the girl's muffled response.

Carlos throws one last glance to the hallway behind him and pushes the door the rest of the way open so he can step inside. "I'm coming in! Everybody hear that? Boy entering the girls' bathroom! Boy in the girl's bathroom!"

"There's no one else in here," Evie says between sniffles.

Carlos exhales in relief, "Oh thank gods."

Evie stands at the mirror wiping furiously at the stains on her dress with a blue handkerchief, her reflection distorted by the dirt and scratches on the glass. She looks up to check the status of her mascara and catches Carlo's eyes watching her in the mirror.

"You really didn't know what she was up to?" Evie asks sadly. She folds the handkerchief and dabs at her teary eyes, careful not to further ruin her mascara.

"No! Evie, I swear! I wouldn't do that to you!" Carlos assures her with a frantic shake of his head.

Evie turns the sink on to soak the cloth again and takes another go at her tarnished dress. She scrubs the same spot for thirty seconds or so before tossing the handkerchief on the sink with a grunt and shaking her head.

"Ugh! This is going to stain! My mother's going to kill me!"

Carlos's eyes widen as he swallows a gulp; statements like that can't just be chalked up to teenaged hyperbole on the isle.

"Maybe we can get it out," he offers lamely. He moves towards her in hopes of helping, seemingly snapping out of his frozen state.

"Not without soap or warm water," Evie huffs. "Why do these bathrooms even have soap dispensers? They're always empty."

Carlos flounders for words he can say to appease his distraught friend but comes up empty-handed.

"Just forget it," Evie sighs. "It's a lost cause."

Evie bows her head in defeat, furtively wiping away the fresh tears from her eyes as she continues to sniffle.

"Eves."

Carlos feels like a total failure as a friend. He can't help Evie—not with her mother, not with Mal, not with Gaston, not even with her dress—and he has no idea what to say to make her feel better. The air between them grows tense as Carlos gapes forlornly at his friend through the heavy silence.

"Gosh, I can't stand that girl!" Evie cries suddenly, jerking her head upwards and startling Carlos.

"The feeling seems to be mutual," Carlos quips. "All this over a birthday party?"

"Ten years and I'm still being punished for something that happened when we were six years old! Six, Carlos! My whole life has been destroyed over some stupid birthday party!" Evie cries as she starts to pace the bathroom. "And it's not like I had any control over the guest list! I was six! Doesn't Mal realize no one regrets not inviting her to that stupid party more than I do?" she asks with a sharp intake of breath before pitching her head back and closing her eyes. "Like I wouldn't give everything I have just to go back and somehow make my mother invite Mal! I don't care how pissed my mom would have been, I'd gladly suffer the consequences if it meant undoing the last ten years of my life!"

Evie finishes her rant with her eyes wild and her chest heaving with shortened breaths.

Carlos doesn't really have anything to say to _all that_, and he doesn't think Evie really needs to hear anything at the moment. She said all she needed to and he listened.

"You wanna skip the rest of the day and go throw stones off the docks?" he suggests instead.

Evie laughs, it's a teary begrudging slip of a laugh but it's genuine and it makes Carlos smile wide and feel like for once he might have gotten something right.

"Sure," Evie answers with an easy shrug. "Let me just grab my jacket from my locket. I can't be seen in public with soup stains on my dress."

* * *

Evie doesn't care who sees them or what they might think, she hooks her arm through Carlos's and walks through the halls with her shoulder against his. Carlos doesn't pull away or remind her of the unspoken rules of the Isle and simply starts talking loudly and animatedly. Evie suspects he's trying to distract her and she appreciates the effort. He's telling her about the time he dared Jay to eat a maggot-infested apple out of the dumpster behind the school and while she's absolutely repulsed by the thought, she finds Carlos's excited story-telling endearing and can't help but draw him closer in an attempt to block out all the noise in her head.

"…he'll swear he didn't but he totally puked!"

Evie stops abruptly a few feet from her locker, her face falling in shock as a quiet gasp slips from her lips.

"What is it?" Carlos asks as he's forced to come to a stop as well. He unwraps his arm from Evie's so that he can turn slightly and search her face for any trace of what could be wrong. He does a quick scan of her body as if he's looking for sudden injuries before returning his eyes to her face. Evie's expression is a familiar mix of shock and hurt and Carlos follows her line of sight till he's staring at what it is that's caught her eye.

"What the hell! Who did this?" Carlos demands, angrily looking around at the faces of the students who have stopped to point and snicker at Evie's expense.

There, splashed across Evie's newly installed locker door is the word "slut" written in bold green paint for all to see.

"We both know who did it," Evie says quietly.

Carlos shakes his head. "No, Mal wouldn't—" he trails off, knowing better. "Shit, Evie, I'm sorry."

Evie's eyes linger on the painted slur that mars her locker door, the letters blurring together in a mocking mess of green as tears sting at soft brown eyes.

"Why would she…does she—you didn't tell—" she stammers.

"No! Of course not!" Carlos promises. "She doesn't mean anything by it. You know how Mal is. She's just trying to get a rise out of you."

Evie goes quiet, too despondent to speak. She feels as if she's just had the air knocked out of her—all because of some stupid 4-letter word Mal decided to scrawl on her locker.

Recognizing that Evie doesn't have the mental wherewithal to make a move, Carlos strides up to the locker and quickly enters Evie's lock combination. Fortunately, she had shared it with him the other day when he asked to leave some of his belongings in her locker for the day and Carlos has a memory like a steel trap. In fact, his half-assembled radio still sits at the bottom of the locker but he's not worried about that now. Once he gets the door open, Carlos pulls Evie's blue leather jacket from its hook and closes the door, spinning the dial on the lock quickly and tugging on the door once to make sure it's secured.

"Let's get out of here," he says, handing Evie the jacket and physically turning her away from the locker by her shoulders.

Evie turns slowly only to met by the jeering faces of her fellow students.

"Hey babe, can I have a kiss?" a boy grins with an exaggerated wink as he passes the pair.

"Fuck off, Anthony!" Carlos calls back.

Evie feels her cheeks grow hot and her heart race. There are girls laughing at her from across the hall; boys she's never seen before making crude gestures in her direction; not-so hushed conversations about her and her possible exploits being held mere feet from where she and Carlos stand. She feels exposed and vulnerable and wishes she could just disappear.

Carlos attempts to lead her away but her feet won't cooperate so he tugs a little more forcefully until she's stumbling forward and nearly crashing into a tall blonde boy who has stopped to leer.

"Come on, sweetheart, you and me… boys bathroom in ten? You know you want this." The stranger punctuates his comment with a vulgar grab of his crotch that spurs on the laughter of the students gathered behind him.

Carlos shoves hard at the boy's chest, sending him flying into the growing crowd. "Get lost, asshole!"

"Evie, don't worry, we'll clean it off," Carlos tells her, his face flushed from trying to defend her.

It takes Evie a second to register what Carlos is saying to her but when she breaks herself from her daze, she just shakes her head. "I'm sorry, Carlos, I think I'm just gonna go home. I'll see you Monday, okay?"

And with that, Evie slips away from Carlos, who can only turn back to the spray-painted locker with a sigh.

* * *

Carlos has rounded up every cleaning solution he could find on school grounds, even going as far as to mix one of his own in the science lab, but nothing seems to be working. He scrubs furiously at the paint on Evie's locker but the bright green letters have hardly faded from his efforts. He's spent the better part of the afternoon trying to wipe Mal's cruel tag from Evie's locker and all he has to show for it are sore arms.

"Hey, Carlos! If you're in the business of cleaning lockers, mine can use a good scrub."

Carlos tosses his rag down and spins around to find Mal smirking proudly at her handiwork.

"The green was an inspired choice, don't you think? Really pops against the dinginess of the locker," Mal marvels, cocking her hip to the side and tapping her index finger against her chin.

"What the hell, Mal!" Carlos demands angrily. "You're taking this thing with Evie way too far!"

Mal just rolls her eyes. "Too far? It's a harmless joke. If Evie can't take a little name-calling then maybe she should run back home to her mommy where she belongs."

Carlos points an accusatory finger at the girl, his forehead pinched in anger. "Labeling someone a slut in this place is not a joke and you know it!"

The Isle had its own rules about sex and promiscuity. Indiscriminate hook-ups were very much the norm and most people indulged in such physical pleasures, but earning a reputation for being easy, whether warranted or not, made you an easy target for the seedier villains on the Isle.

"Oh relax, everyone knows princess is a total prude. That's what makes it so funny," Mal says dismissively.

Carlos reels from Mal's surprising turnaround. Mal has been relentless in her insults and insinuations about Evie's supposed robust sex-life and now she's dismissing it all as a joke and calling her a prude?

"Was your little soup shower not enough?"

Mal flashes her teeth in a grin, her eyes sparkling with a wicked gleam. "Nope. In fact, consider that my opening salvo in a long production of pain and misery I plan to inflict on little miss perfect princess."

Carlos begins to gather up his cleaning supplies, shaking his head at Mal's spitefulness.

"The party was 10 years ago, get the hell over it," Carlos spits scornfully. "Or stay the hell away from me." He levels Mal with a glare, purposely knocking his shoulder into hers as he passes.

Mal is on his heels quick, pushing ahead of him and whirling around in a rage to growl in his face. "You're going to take that spoiled selfish princess's side over mine?!"

"Evie is not the selfish one! She looks out for me, she helps me with my mom, with my chores, she makes me clothes—-"

"And I don't look out for you?" Mal demands.

Carlos takes in Mal's expression, a mix of hurt and outrage, and exhales. He can't ignore that Mal has had his back over the years. There's a reason why he decided to be a part of her crew. Mal may lack Evie's gentle touch but she has her own way of getting things done and protecting her people.

Mal had chosen Carlos as one of "her people" a few years ago after he had inadvertently revealed his affinity for building cool shit from scrap parts and been deemed useful by the daughter of Maleficent. And Carlos won't deny that his life has been better for it— at least at school and on the streets. Carlos knows his association with Mal has kept him from being messed with on multiple occasions, and if some poor unsuspecting fool missed the memo and decided to test him, Mal was always sure to make them pay. Carlos isn't stupid nor callous enough to discredit Mal's role in his life, but he's not going to abandon Evie either, not when she needs him most.

"Find me when you're done being a raging bitch," Carlos sighs before walking off.


	7. Chapter 7

"You're late."

The Evil Queen's cold clipped voice greets Evie before she can even close the castle door. Evie sighs and lets the heavy oak door fall shut behind her, her hopes of slipping past her mother unnoticed dashed within seconds of arriving home.

After leaving school early, Evie had spent some time wandering the Isle and getting lost in her thoughts. She didn't stray too far from the main roadways, not wanting to get caught alone in some dirty alley or deserted passageway—her mother's twisted tales of the terrible things that happen to girls alone in alleys on the Isle drumming at the back of her mind. Evie had long ago come to terms with the bitter irony of her mother warning her of the terrors that lie outside her castle walls while purposely curating the ones that befell Evie within her tower.

Still, Evie remained vigilant as she walked the Isle she calls home freely for the first time in a decade. There's still so much of it she hasn't seen, her mother requiring her to return home immediately after school each day. After suffering the consequences of her first detention earlier in the week, she had every intention of honoring her mother's rules. But her mind has been swimming with thoughts she can't seem to quiet and she carelessly lost track of time.

Under her jacket, Evie's dress is soiled and damp from her poor attempts at washing up in the school bathroom. Her hair is matted to her head with thick pea soup and even her stockings are caked in green mush. For the daughter of the Evil Queen, appearance is _everything _but it's not her current physical state that is vexing Evie. Mal's little soup prank was humiliating and exasperating, and perhaps after the shock had worn off, Evie would have found the wicked emerald-eyed girl and told her off for her childish behavior— but seeing that word splashed across her locker had felt like a sucker punch to the gut.

Evie knew Mal didn't like her, but her hate had never felt so personal before. Mal is her mother's daughter, holding onto old grudges for the sake of being angry, and while Evie was disappointed to find Mal in such a state upon her arrival at Dragon Hall, she understood the pressure from Maleficent made Mal that way.

But today had felt different—today had felt like Mal had taken aim at her soul with the sharpest tool in her arsenal. All week Evie had been annoyed with Mal's little quips about her supposedly perfect life inside her castle, but despite Mal's vision being the farthest thing from the truth, Evie was content with leaving the other girl to her assumptions because the truth is something she'd much prefer to keep to herself. Mal hating her for being something she's not was irritating, but Mal recognizing and being repulsed by her shameful truth was devastating.

Evie straightens her back and forces her face into a pleasant expression for her mother's benefit. "I was working on a project after school."

She delivers the lie with her head held high and no trace of emotion on her face. She had long ago learned that the truth was often far from the best option when it came to her mother, it was always best to tell her exactly what she wanted to hear. Evie doubts her mother wants to hear that Mal, the daughter of her greatest rival, had yet again gotten the best of her daughter—not when Maleficent's most recent interference in their lives still has her mother seething.

The sound of her mother's mocking laugh echoes through the foyer and Evie twitches ever so slightly at the shrill sound. "Please, Evie, the least you could do is work on a more believable lie."

Evie considers her options—doubling down on her lie or submitting to her mother's coming tirade. Evie lowers her eyes as her mother moves in closer, circling her with contempt. Today might call for a careful mingling of both.

"Don't tell me you got detention again?" The Evil Queen sneers. "My daughter, the delinquent. Such an embarrassment!"

"No, mother, I didn't," Evie counters. She'll take her punishment but not for something she didn't do.

The Evil Queen cocks her head, beady eyes taking unforgiving inventory of the girl in front of her. Well accustomed to the attention, Evie stands still under her mother's appraising gaze and hopes whatever small flaw her mother will pick on today is easy to fix.

"What's on your dress?" the Evil Queen questions, stepping closer to inspect her daughter. She sniffs the air, her face recoiling in disgust. "And that smell! My gods!"

Evie stiffens, cursing her jacket for not being long enough to cover all the stains that litter her dress.

"Soup."

"Soup?" The Evil Queens repeats, voice rising and face scrunching at the word. "Why are you covered in soup?"

"I slipped at lunch and spilled some on myself." Just a small lie to lessen the impending damage. Evie plants her feet and squares her shoulders.

"You clumsy little idiot!"

Her mother's hand juts out to smack her hard across the face. The Evil Queen is quick and precise in her strike, but Evie is unfortunately well-versed in the art of physical abuse and absorbs the blow with only the tiniest jerking of her head.

"You have an appointment in half an hour and you show up late and covered in slop!" The Evil Queen bellows. "I knew you going to school was a mistake! I have every mind to pull you out of that horrid place and go back to schooling you myself!"

Evie shakes her head frantically. "No! Please! I'll be ready! I promise!" she cries. Evie feels sick at the desperation in her voice but she can't go back to being confined to her castle all day long.

"Don't make me regret my decision, Evie!" her mother warns with a sharp look, before turning away.

"It wasn't your decision, it was Maleficent's," Evie mumbles under her breath as her mother starts to retreat.

At her muffled muttering, the Evil Queen whirls back around, her long black cloak wrapping around her like a cloud of smoke. A practiced hand flies out to grab a fist full of Evie's hair and tug her close. Evie silently curses herself for her childish response. She knows better.

"What did you just say?" the Evil Queen hisses against the girl's ear.

"Nothing," Evie says through gritted teeth. Her body twists awkwardly in her mother's grasp but she knows better than to try to pull away. She had nearly lost a handful of hair the last time she attempted to escape her mother's hold.

"That's what I thought," her mother smiles wickedly. She releases Evie's hair with a rough push that sends the girl stumbling forward. Evie quickly rights herself, keeping her face from colliding with the cracked marble of the floor. "Now go get yourself together. We'll continue this after you're done."

Evie can only nod obediently as she shuffles towards the stairs.

"Oh and darling," her mother calls, stopping Evie in her tracks. "Don't think I'm going to let your pathetic act of insolence slide, you _will_ learn your lesson," she warns darkly. "Count your luck you have an appointment tonight or things could have been very bad for you, sweetheart."

_Luck_. Evie has never known such a thing. She starts her trek up the four flights of stairs to her bedroom, the weight in her chest growing heavier with each step. She'd have preferred the beating to what awaits her tonight.

* * *

Carlos is waiting outside her castle gate on Monday morning. Evie is a few minutes behind schedule and despite her hatred for being late, she can't seem to shake her sluggishness. She's mentally and physically exhausted and judging by the weary look on Carlos's face as he watches her walk down the crumbling cobblestone pathway, he can tell. The heat from his large brown eyes is almost too much for Evie to stand and she finds herself chewing on her bottom lip and hoping he doesn't notice the falter in her step. She does her best to walk with her usual poise but her body is sore and her mind slowed from lack of sleep.

His eyes rake over her when she nears and Evie timidly tugs at her jacket in a meaningless attempt at shielding herself. She knows she _looks_ fine, both she and her mother made sure of it, but Carlos has a way of looking past her carefully constructed facade.

After a long look, Carlos simply presses his lips together and makes a noise that sounds vaguely like a low hum. Evie offers him a tired smile in greeting and starts the walk to school.

"How'd it go Friday? Was your mom pissed about your dress?" Carlos asks once they gain a bit of distance from The Castle Across The Way.

Evie shrugs noncommittally. "She'll get over it."

While she had met the back of her mother's hand for coming home a mess, her true punishment came later. At least that's what her mother told her when she brought Evie's third appointment in two days to her bedroom door. Evie knew her mother didn't need a reason, but that didn't stop the Evil Queen from seizing the opportunity to lay the burden of her own suffering at her daughter's feet.

"So nothing happened?" Carlos pries.

"C, I'm fine," Evie says, attempting to dismiss the boy's concern. Carlos holds her in his gaze, seemingly unconvinced. "Stop looking at me like that. I'm fine, I promise."

They walk a little farther along before Carlos stops to glance at her sideways. "You look like you haven't slept."

Evie sighs. "That's because I haven't."

"Are you… is it still going on?" Carlos asks carefully.

Her chest tightens at the question. Carlos has known her secrets for years now but it never gets any easier to hear them out loud.

"Carlos." She's tired, so tired, and she can't have this conversation with Carlos yet again.

"I know," he sighs, face falling at Evie's weary warning. "I know you don't like to talk about it, but has it gotten any better? I mean you can leave your castle now. You're going to school everyday where people can actually see you. She can't keep making you…. it has to have gotten better? Right?"

Evie takes a deep breath and shakes her head softly. Carlos's expression is grim but Evie can detect the slightest spark of hope in his voice and she feels awful for having to disappoint him.

"Carlos, c'mon, don't do this."

Carlos kicks at the gravel in the road and looks away. "I was just hoping it would stop."

"I was too."

* * *

Despite Carlos's best efforts, that terrible word is still on Evie's locker when she reaches school. Evie avoids the hall that houses her locker but, nonetheless, finds herself the target of some very unwanted attention as a result. Between the gossip and public requests for sexual favors, Evie finds herself seeking refuge at the side of Carlos and Jay as often as possible throughout the day. Both boys are chatty and energetic and Evie easily gets lost in conversation with them.

She passes Mal a couple of times in the halls and receives a glare from the other girl each time. There's so much Evie wants to say but her throat seems to go dry whenever she's met with green eyes and purple hair and all she can do is look away. They don't interact all day, although Mal does knock into a boy who's giving Evie a hard time outside of her Scheming 101 class. When the boy turns to snap at whoever jostled him, he freezes upon seeing Mal and his mouth snaps shut. Mal doesn't say a word to her but the boy leaves Evie alone after that.

While Carlos is actively avoiding Mal, Jay is not and so the talented thief eats lunch with his crew's leader at their usual table in the cafeteria while Evie and Carlos take their food outside to eat in the yard.

Carlos tells her all about the radio he's been piecing together from scrap parts he's managed to collect over the last couple of months and what he plans to do with it once he finishes, and Evie shares her plans for a concoction she hopes to cook up in the school's lab if she can get her hands on the right ingredients—a cream that's meant to help scars fade. They don't talk about why either of them might need such a thing but Evie's eyes shine with excitement when she breaks down the cream's chemical components and Carlos can't help but grin in response.

"You're kind of a nerd," he tells her when she finishes. She's practically out of breath from talking so quickly and Carlos chuckles at the offended look that washes over her face at his remark.

Evie gasps loudly and pushes at his shoulder before leaning over to swipe the last remaining carrot off the boy's tray.

"Hey! I was saving that one for last! It's the only one without mold!" Carlos complains. He always likes to get all the spoiled and moldy food out of the way first so he could savor whatever few good bites of food he has at the end of his meal.

"That's what you get for calling me a nerd!" Evie teases, popping the offending vegetable into her mouth with a grin.

As the day winds down, Evie finds herself sitting on the front steps of the school with Jay and Carlos. Jay has spent the better part of the last half-hour jumping off of handrails and stone ledges and flipping his body to various degrees before landing on his feet. He calls out for Evie to watch before attempting some ridiculous trick and she happily obliges, offering the boy a smile and a round of applause when he sticks the landing and grins up at her.

Carlos lifts his head from his notebook to roll his eyes and shake his head. "You're not actually impressed by that, are you?"

Evie laughs—it's light and airy and maybe today hasn't been such a bad day after all. "He can jump rather high."

"So can a monkey," Carlos mumbles under his breath as Jay does another roundhouse kick off the top step.

Carlos and Evie eventually break off into a conversation about science and Jay throws his head back with a groan once he realizes he's lost Evie's attention.

"You're still working on that stupid project? I haven't even started mine."

"Jay!" Evie gasps. "You're going to fail!"

Jay shrugs. "Not like I care."

"You should care! Your education is important, Jay!"

Jay decides he's done enough awesome stunts for one day and comes to sit with his friends, shamelessly wedging himself between Carlos and Evie.

"No one actually gets an education at Dragon Hall," he cracks. "Besides, you don't need an education to be a thief, you just need good hands…which I have," he tells Evie with a suggestive smirk and a waggle of his eyebrows.

Evie flounders for a moment at the innuendo before shaking her head and fixing the boy with a serious look. "Thief or not, you should take your studies seriously."

"Bet I'd learn a lot more if I had a tutor. A little one-on-one attention might be just what I need," he winks at her.

Carlos catches her eye to see if she needs him to interject but she just smiles and turns to Jay. "That can be arranged."

"Yeah?" Jay perks up.

"Sure," Evie says sweetly. "Carlos, Jay needs help with science. Tutor him."

"Not quite what I had in mind," Jay grumbles as Carlos and Evie share a laugh at his expense. "Anyway, I better get going. Pops is gonna be pissed if I don't bring home the goods today."

"The goods?" Evie questions.

"Stolen shit Jafar sells in his shop," Carlos explains disinterestedly.

"Reclaimed shit," Jay corrects, getting to his feet.

"_Yeah, sure, reclaimed."_

Three heads turn at the sound of the sarcastic remark to find Mal standing at the top of the steps.

Jay, not at all bothered by the interruption, continues as if she'd been there the whole time. "Whatever. It was slim pickings last week and the old man still hasn't quit bitching about it. I gotta score something big this week or I'm sleeping outside again."

Evie only spares Mal a quick glance before turning her head and pivoting her body slightly so she can see Mal out of the corner of her eye. She won't give the girl the satisfaction of an emotional reaction, but she's not going to remain vulnerable to another attack from behind either. Beside her, Carlos starts packing up his backpack with a huff of annoyance.

"I might have something that can help," Evie offers the thief. Her voice is quieter than before and her fingers pick anxiously at the loose threads hanging off her skirt. If Jay notices her sudden uneasiness at the sight of Mal, he doesn't mention it.

"You have stuff you stole that you're willing to just give to me?"

"Not stole," Evie starts hesitantly. Her eyes dart quickly in Mal's direction to make sure the girl isn't up to anything. "I have some things that I don't really have much use for but perhaps they might be of some value to you."

Mal strolls down the steps and rolls her eyes back. "You want to pawn off your old junk on Jay? Gee how generous."

"It's not junk! It's jewelry and metals and silk," Evie insists hotly. She catches herself growing emotional at Mal's mocking and quickly reels herself in, brushing her hands over her skirt and taking a deep breath. "They're valuable goods," she adds firmly. "And if they'll help Jay, he can have them to give to his father." She turns towards the boy in question with an earnest expression. "And then you'll have time to work on your project instead of having to be out all night stealing."

Jay arches a suspicious eyebrow. It's not every day someone on the Isle offers to give you something for nothing. "And you don't want these things?"

"I don't," Evie answers truthfully.

Carlos is standing now, bag slung over his shoulder. "I'm leaving," he announces with one last glare in Mal's direction. "You coming, Evie?"

Evie nods and gets to her feet.

"Won't your mother notice her shit is gone?" Jay questions.

"These things belong to me. I can bring them tomorrow," Evie says before sparing Mal one last cautious look and following after Carlos.

* * *

Evie is surprised and not at all pleased to see Mal in P.E. the following day. She's aware that Mal and Carlos are not currently on speaking terms so she doubts Mal is yet again present at the behest of the freckled boy. She forces the air out of her lungs with an annoyed breath and finds a spot to stand that's not directly in Gaston's eye-line while also being a fair distance from Mal. Her nerves are already on edge in this class without having to worry about whatever rotten trick Mal has up her sleeve.

But Evie has bigger issues than trying to figure out Mal's motive for attending class because presently there's a thick knotted rope hanging from the center of the gym's ceiling and apparently each student is expected to climb it. The thing is, Evie's pretty skilled at rope climbing—she's done her fair share of slipping out her bedroom window and shimmying down her tower's outer-wall to meet Carlos in the woods during her mother's afternoon naps. However, she doesn't need Mal nosing around trying to figure out how she acquired such a skill.

On top of her Mal problem, and Mal truly is becoming a problem, Evie also has to contend with Gaston's unsettling staring and not so sly digs. But Evie has a new tactic in mind for today. Instead of trying to fade into the background and hoping Gaston leaves her alone, she immediately raises her hand and volunteers to be the first to attempt the rope exercise. She's aware that Gaston's eyes will be on her as she climbs the rope, but so will everyone else's which should offer her some sense of protection.

As Evie strides out to the center of the gym feigning confidence, Mal makes a crack about her being a show-off which draws some snickers from the other students. Picking up on the tension between the girls and jumping at the opportunity to exploit Evie's discomfort, Gaston gleefully invites Mal to spot Evie and hold the rope. Mal is vocal in her displeasure and stomps to the center of the gym mumbling curses under her breath.

"I can't wait to see this, Princess. Try not to break your neck," Mal grins once she's face-to-face with the blue-haired girl.

"Your fixation with me is seriously growing tiresome, Mal," Evie sighs. She grabs a hold of the rope with one hand and gives the other girl a cheeky wink. "Try not to stare."

Mal's cheeks burn bright red as a chorus of "ooh's" rings out from the crowd of students waiting for their turn. Evie starts her ascent up the rope with a satisfied smile on her face, pleased to get the better of Mal for once.

Evie climbs with her usual grace, but also with strength and speed that leaves Mal scratching her head. The grace she's familiar with, but where did Evie learn to climb like that? Slender hands move over each other with ease as she grips the rope between her feet and uses her upper body to hoist herself towards the rafters. Mal had no intention of actually spotting Evie during this inane exercise but she can't seem to take her eyes off of the girl; and if her hands happen to reach out to hold the rope steady as Evie puts more and more distance between herself and the floor, well it isn't intentional and certainly not meant to be helpful.

"Yo Mal! Enjoying the view?!" a voice calls out.

Her stare effectively broken, Mal whips her head around to see who dared to tease her. She finds a group of boys laughing and elbowing each other with ridiculous smirks on their faces.

"Your girl can really get up there," another boy in the group calls out. "Bet she's even better at going down."

Mal's nostrils flare at the lazy innuendo and she steps towards the group with a growl. "What did you just say?"

She can't quite determine if she wants to rip their heads off for laughing at her expense, or for their tasteless crack about Evie. Carlos's words about labels being dangerous in a school like this echoes in the back of her mind and Mal can't help but question if maybe she should have picked a different word to spray paint on Evie's locker. Mal doesn't typically do regret and the feeling burns at her chest like acid.

The sound of feet hitting the ground snaps Mal out of her brief rage and she spins to see Evie standing with the rope still in her hand. Despite her flawless execution of the exercise, Evie's not smiling smugly but rather watching Mal with wide blinking eyes.

Mal feels caught between Evie's intense wondering gaze and the chuckles of her classmates. She wants to pummel those idiot boys for their audacity, but she also wants to go to Evie and explain herself.

"Switch! You're up, Mal!" Gaston yells out.

Wordlessly, the girls switch positions and Mal reaches for the rope while trying her best to avoid Evie's eyes. Evie watches carefully as Mal begins to climb, the rope dangling loosely between her hands as her eyes follow purple hair toward the ceiling.

Mal makes it to the top without issue but her foot misses a knot on the way down and she begins to slide. The rope slipping through her fingers burns her hands and so she lets go with a hiss. She's only a few feet off the ground and Evie _could _place a hand against her back to steady her, but cruel taunting words and cold pea soup and vandalized locker doors swim in her head. Evie takes a small step back and Mal falls onto the padded mat lying on the ground, landing on her backside with a solid thud. When she looks up, Evie is biting her lip to keep from laughing. The rest of the class, however, make no attempt to conceal their laughter and the sound of forty of her peers mocking her sends Mal into a rage.

Mal scrambles to her feet and points an accusing finger at Evie. "You did that on purpose!"

"I haven't the slightest clue what you're talking about," Evie says, face the picture of innocence. She doesn't feel too bad about her little stunt considering Mal was only high up enough to bruise her ego. In fact, Evie's rather pleased with her last-minute act of retribution.

Mal steps towards Evie with her teeth bared, their faces only inches apart. "You'll pay for that!" she warns, green eyes flashing with unadulterated disdain. Being so close, Mal can see the tiny flecks of red in Evie's honey-brown eyes as Evie stares back at her, completely unaffected by her threat. The familiar warmth she finds there is enough to throw Mal off her axis for a moment.

Evie cocks her head and smiles sweetly. "What are you going to do? More sophomoric pranks like vandalizing my locker and spilling soup on me? Please. For the daughter of the mistress of all evil, that's pretty lame."

Mal wants to kiss that stupid smile right off her face.

The realization makes her blood run cold and without saying a word, she's storming out of the gym and slamming her fist into the first unlucky locker door she sees with a wild wail.


	8. Chapter 8

Mal is still reeling from her shocking realization about her feelings towards Evie as she stomps her way into the cafeteria to find Jay. She refuses to accept she might actually _like_ the girl. Not possible. Mal does not _like_ anyone, certainly not annoying blue-haired princess wannabes. But she can't deny she feels _something _when she catches Evie's soft brown eyes gazing back at her, or notices Evie's tongue adorably peeking out between her teeth whenever she's concentrating on something.

So maybe she likes looking at Evie but who could blame her? She can't deny that Evie has a certain aesthetic appeal to her, but that's all it is. That's all she'll allow it to be. And it's not like she's the only one who finds Evie attractive; Jay has been obnoxiously open in his quest to get Evie into bed (a quest Mal is happy to see him fail at repeatedly and spectacularly), and Mal's pretty sure Carlos has a crush on the girl—why else would he follow Evie around like a lost puppy. Not to mention all the passing comments Mal overhears at school that have her gritting her teeth and snarling at unsuspecting students in the halls.

Evie may be attractive but Mal is stronger willed than any of her hormone-driven peers and she won't let Evie's blatant flaunting of herself lull her into some sort of schoolgirl crush. She knows Evie is as smart and shrew as she is alluring, and Mal wouldn't put it past the daughter of the Evil Queen to intentionally use her looks to weaken her enemies. That's what this feeling in her chest has to be, Mal decides. She's simply reacting to the trap Evie's set for her, but she won't continue to fall for it.

Mal doesn't care how fair Evie's skin is or how red her lips are, that girl is utterly devious and after the stunt she just pulled in P.E., Mal is ready to teach the princess who runs this school once and for all.

She's not sure why she even went to P.E. in the first place, it's not like she actually bothers to going to any of her other classes. Then again, Evie isn't in any of her other classes. Mal shakes the thoughts from her head and forges on to the newest phase of her master plan.

Mal slams both palms down on the table, effectively drawing Jay's attention away from his lunch.

"You still looking for way to keep your dad off your back?"

Jay shrugs and shakes his head, returning his attention to his food. "I'm good. Evie brought me that stuff she said she would—a whole pillowcase full. It should buy me a few days of peace."

Mal shoves Jay's tray to the side and leans forward over the table to get his attention. "Forget about whatever junk Evie gave you. I know something that will really impress your old man."

"I'm not looking to impress him, I'm just looking to keep him off my back for a while," Jay says with an annoyed look as he pulls his lunch back towards him.

"_Bullshit,_" Mal calls his bluff. "If you don't care about impressing your dad then why do you swipe every lamp you see?" she challenges, one brow lifted. Jay glares petulantly in response and Mal smirks smugly. "Admit it. We're both looking for respect from our parents and I have a way we can both earn it."

Jay raises his eyes to indicate his interest. "Fine. I'm listening."

"Evie's heart pendant," Mal says with a wicked smile.

Jay wipes his mouth against the back of his hand and eyes Mal with mild curiosity. "What about it?"

"It's a real ruby. That's worth more than any of the crap in your father's shop."

"You want me to steal Evie's heart necklace?" Jay asks. Sure he had thought about stealing the necklace from the moment he saw it hanging around Evie's neck, but the more he got to know Evie, the less time he spent thinking of ways to lift the pendant off her.

Mal nods, eyes alive with mischief. This will be a major blow in her war against the blue-haired vixen who has become the bane of Mal's existence. Mal remembers how sentimental Evie was as a child, and judging from the way she spoke about the necklace her mother gave her, likely still is. Evie won't take losing her mommy's precious pendant well.

Jay remains unconvinced. "And how exactly will that impress your mother? Maleficent doesn't care about money or jewelry."

"No but she cares about exacting revenge on her enemies and the Evil Queen is one of her biggest enemies," Mal explains.

Mal doesn't actually care about impressing her mother, not this time anyway. Maleficent would likely be pleased to hear of any distress brought to the Evil Queen and Mal knows the old witch will flip her lid when she sees Evie lost her precious necklace, but that'll just be an added bonus. Mal has one goal in mind at the moment—drive Evie out of Dragon Hall and out of her life for good. No more confusing feelings or uncontrollable urges to kiss anyone.

"I don't know," Jay chews over Mal's plan. "Evie's been kind of cool to me and Carlos is pretty pissed at you for messing with her. I don't need the headache."

Mal huffs dismissively. Carlos will come crawling back to her once his little playmate runs back home to mommy. "Don't be such a wuss. She deserves it."

"Does she?" Jay questions, his usual grin replaced with a serious expression. "Aren't you getting tired of messing with her?"

"Never," Mal says firmly. "Look, Evie won't even miss the stupid thing. She probably has 6 more just like it at home. You heard her, she has plenty of stuff just laying around that big ol' castle of hers she's willing to part with."

Jay considers Mal's words. Evie does seem to have a lot of possessions, especially for an Isle kid, maybe she won't miss the necklace.

"I could probably get some decent coin for a rock that large. Keep my dad off my ass for a whole week. Maybe two," he admits. It's not that he wants to mess with Evie, but two weeks of freedom from his dad is too good an opportunity to pass up. Besides, everything was fair game on the Isle when it came to survival and it's not like villain kids were expected to have any scruples. His fingers already feel like they're itching to hold that ruby.

"Sure," Mal agrees easily although she has no intention of actually letting Jay sell the pendant.

* * *

Jay wastes no time in tracking Evie down after he leaves Mal. For once, he's a little unsure about a planned heist and he'd prefer to get it over with before he changes his mind. Carlos had told him he was skipping lunch to meet Evie in the science lab so Jay assumes they're both still there working away at whatever nerdy little project they've got going on today.

With Evie's arrival at school, Carlos has been spending more time tucked away in the lab playing with wires and chemicals and bonding with Evie over science stuff Jay had no interest in. And while Jay misses hanging out with the other boy, he's happy to see Carlos so relaxed at school. Having Evie around to share in his interests has been good for Carlos and Jay just hopes Mal's little plan doesn't mess things up for him and Carlos too much.

Jay spots the pair huddled over a notebook at a long lab table covered in glass bottles and beakers. Carlos's head is bowed in careful concentration as he furiously writes away in the notebook while Evie gently rolls a beaker between her hands. The liquid sloshes up the sides of the glass as Evie moves her head and she furrows her brows and frowns.

"It's not oxidizing!" Evie pouts.

When Carlos had suggested trying out some basic experiments that he had done in class last year to determine what mixtures and reactions might be useful to them down the line, Evie jumped at the opportunity to catch up on some of the lessons she had missed while practicing eye-lining techniques with her mother. Evie's always had a certain fondness for mixing and blending the various ingredients and components she managed to get her hands on at home. She's created plenty of elixirs of her own, some of use, but most simply for the sake of experimenting. Dragon Hall's lab is hardly state of the art but at least she has a place to work without fear of punishment if caught and a partner to indulge with. And after the tumultuous start to her school career, she's perfectly content to be tucked away in the lab repeating old chemistry experiments with Carlos instead of out in the cafeteria dealing with the noise and the rumors—and Mal.

"Let me see," Carlos says, snatching the glass from her. "That's because you didn't wait for it to dissolve."

Evie feigns annoyance and blows a few strands of blue hair out of her eyes before gently nudging Carlos in the ribs with a smile. "Well aren't you the little genius."

"Damn right, I am," Carlos agrees, tongue against his cheek as he sets to mixing his ingredients.

Jay approaches the pair with his signature grin, his gaze flicking down to the gem hanging around Evie's neck as he nears. "Hey beautiful, whatcha doing?"

Carlos only spares the boy a quick glance but Evie snaps her head up with a start, only to relax a moment later when she realizes it's Jay.

"Using potassium bromate ions to oxidize malonic acid into carbon dioxide," she explains with a smile.

"Sounds hot," Jay quips, coming over to lean against the table Carlos and Evie are working at.

"You need something, Jay?" Carlos asks as he continues to take notes of their experiment. One day he'll get them all off this stupid island and since he can't count on anyone coming to save them, he'll need to make it happen on his own. He's not too sure how exactly he'll do that but he figures his brain is his best weapon. He may not be wired like Jay and Mal but he's capable of hatching a plan or two of his own.

"Just wanted to hang out with my two favorite nerds," Jay says easily. "Hoping some of that knowledge might rub off on me." He punctuates his statement by playfully ruffling Carlos's hair, earning a small laugh from Evie.

"Not likely," Carlos cracks, swatting the older boy's hand away from his head.

Jay leans over Evie's shoulder and feigns interest in the solutions laid out before him. His chest presses softly against her back and he drapes an arm over her shoulder to gesture to the glass in her hand. He needs her focus to be directed forward if he's going to be able to lift the pendant from around her neck without detection. "So what's this stuff called again?"

Evie tenses slightly at the boy's proximity but quickly steadies her shaky hand and sets her beaker down.

"Jay, you mind," Carlos interjects, noticing Evie's discomfort.

Jay backs off with an apologetic smile. "Oh, yeah, my bad."

"This is called an oscillating reaction," Evie explains as she pours the contents of a test tube into the beaker and sits back as the solution inside starts to change in color.

"Pretty cool," Jay notes.

Carlos returns his attention to his notebook and Jay leans over Evie once again, careful not to actually touch her this time. "Your hair smells really nice."

"Thank you," Evie smiles, not caring that she's breaking two of the rules Carlos, Jay, and Mal laid out for her on her first day at Dragon Hall. "I make my own shampoo from cedarwood and peppermint," she adds proudly.

Jay draws back with a smile of his own, his fingers closed around the coveted pendant. "Well, it's working for you, princess."

Carlos rolls his eyes at Jay's flagrant flirting. He knows Evie can handle Jay on her own but he's starting to wonder if he should have a word with the other boy and tell him to back off—if only to spare Jay the embarrassment of shamelessly pursuing a girl who couldn't possibly be less interested in him romantically. Carlos had pulled Evie aside after her first day and explained that Jay was just a natural flirt and posed no threat to her whatsoever. She seemed to take Carlos's words to heart and is generally pretty relaxed around Jay now, and has even started to refer to him as a friend, but Carlos notices Evie still flinches if he gets too close without warning. But Evie is a master of disguise and considering her dedication to keeping her home life a secret, Carlos supposes talking to Jay will likely do more harm than good.

"On that note, I better get going," Jay says, stealthily dropping the necklace into his pocket and spinning away from the table. "You two try not to nerd out too hard now. Wouldn't want those big brains of yours to fry."

Evie shakes her head with a soft smile and calls out her goodbye while Carlos waves the boy off with a simple grunt.

That had almost been too easy, Jay thinks as he strolls down the hall in muted triumph. Despite the mission being a success, it failed to provide him the usual rush of excitement. Evie was an easy mark, clearly unaccustomed to fending off thieves and pick-pockets due to having spent the majority of her life locked away in a castle. Stealing from Evie was like stealing from a baby, except he likes Evie more than he likes most babies. But maybe this can be a learning experience for her, Jay muses. Once he gets the ruby to his father and earns himself a break, he'll set about teaching Evie some basic Isle skills and self-defense moves to protect her from thieves like him in the future. It's the least he could do.

* * *

Evie makes a quick pitstop in the school bathroom before she heads home for the day. She had spent nearly all afternoon in the lab with Carlos and she wants to be sure there's no trace of the day's experiments on her clothing. She doesn't need a repeat of the soup-dress incident with her mother.

After careful inspection of her blouse and skirt, Evie looks up at the mirror hanging haphazardly over the broken sink to check for any flaws in her hair or makeup her mother might take issue with upon her return home. She combs her fingers through her hair in an effort to give her flat blue locks the volume her mother is always on her about and reapplies a fresh coat of mascara to her eyelashes. She's about to touch a gloss-coated finger to her lips when she makes the horrifying discovery—her mother's ruby heart pendant is gone.

Evie's hand flies to her bare chest with a small gasp and she sweeps the floor with wide frantic eyes in search of her missing necklace. Her panic quickly escalates when she fails to find the piece of jewelry anywhere inside the bathroom and she rushes back into the hallway to retrace her steps. She makes all the way to the door of the lab when she stops short with a startling realization.

* * *

Finding Jay had been easy, Evie just followed the gaggle of giggling freshman girls out to the front courtyard. There on the steps where she, Jay and Carlos had eaten lunch together only a day ago, she spots Jay happily holding court with a crowd of enamored girls surrounding him.

Evie marches determinedly up to the boy, the gnawing feeling of dread in her stomach twisting into blinding outrage.

"Jay! Give me back my necklace!"

At her words, the group instantly quiets and Jay peers at the blue-haired girl over the heads of the nameless girls he had been flirting with.

"What necklace?" Jay feigns ignorance.

"My ruby heart necklace. I know you took it," Evie accuses harshly. Her eyes narrow on the boy she had briefly considered a friend as angry tears threaten to spill onto her cheeks.

Carlos had told her Jay was harmless and she believed him. She feels so foolish for letting her guard down. Jay is a known flirt and a proud thief, Evie knew that of course, but she thought perhaps he saw her as more than a potential mark. She thought he could maybe be a true friend to her one day, like Carlos. But all he saw in her was easy prey.

"Can't say I know what you're talking about, princess," Jay says with a neutral expression.

The girls glare at Evie with disdain and exchange hushed whispers about her possible involvement with Jay. Jay decides he's bored of them and shoos them away.

"Jay, please. My mother—" Evie trails off, her voice strained by the lump in her throat. She stops herself from losing control of her emotions in front of Jay's groupies, who continue to cast scornful looks in her direction as they scatter.

Her mother is going to be furious with her. That necklace is the only thing of tangible value the Evil Queen has ever given to her and she made sure Evie knew just how irreplaceable it was. Before it graced Evie's neck, the pendant had been worn by the Evil Queen herself. Her mother had given it to Evie the day before she started school at Dragon Hall and it had come with a stern warning to never lose or disgrace it. The "or else" was, as always, implied. While she made it clear she did not deem Evie fit to wear the crowned heart ruby, the Evil Queen had been adamant about Evie carrying her mark in public. Evie had sworn to keep it safe, eager to prove to her mother that she was worth more than her body, that she was fit to wear the treasured talisman of her mother's lineage. And now it's gone, because she had gotten too comfortable around a boy she hardly knows.

"I need that necklace. I can't go home without it," Evie insists, her voice bordering on pleading.

Jay shrugs and jumps down from the steps. He recognizes the desperation in Evie's voice, the flash of panic in her eyes that so many kids of the Isle bore, but there's nothing he can do about it now.

"Sorry, princess. It's out of my hands now."

"What do you mean?" Evie asks urgently.

"Mal has it."

He's not proud to admit it but Jay had totally gotten played. As soon as he showed Mal the stolen necklace, she snatched it from his hand with impish fervor. It was obvious from the gleam in her eyes that Mal had no intention of parting with the pendant, no matter what she led Jay to believe leading up to the score. Mal had used Jay's skillset to her benefit and while annoyed, Jay wasn't particularly surprised by the move. It was the Isle way and he'd likely do the same if the need arose.

Evie feels her heart sink at the increasing hopelessness of the situation. She shakes her head, finally giving in to her tears. "No, no, no," she cries quietly.


	9. Chapter 9

Mal lets the delicate chain of metal slide through her fingers in a motion that's become second nature since she took possession of the ruby pendant five days ago. She sighs and snaps her fist closed around the crowned heart. It's cold to the touch and sits heavy in her hand, and holding it doesn't feel nearly as good as she had imagined.

The satisfaction of a well thought out and expertly executed plan had been brief and not very satisfying at all. Yes, she had tricked Jay into stealing Evie's necklace and yes, she had driven Evie from school, but it all felt a little disappointing in the end. Mal tells herself it's because she was robbed of Evie's reaction, denied the chance to witness Evie's defeat with her own two eyes and savor in her victory. The princess had simply left school that afternoon and not returned since. That had been the desired outcome, hadn't it? So why did it leave Mal feeling so unfulfilled?

"It's been five days. She can't still be crying over this stupid necklace," Mal muses as she turns the pendant over in her palm.

Mal pauses her pacing to glare at Evie's locker door. Her handiwork is still on display—four little letters staring back at her bright and bold as ever. She can't help but cringe at the sight, it wasn't exactly her most inspired act of villainy. Sophomoric. That's what Evie had called her that day in P.E. Maybe the princess had a point. Name-calling isn't exactly the pinnacle of evil.

Jay shrugs and leans back against the wall with a bored expression. They've been standing opposite Evie's locker for over forty minutes now, a position he and Mal have managed to find themselves in at some point every day since Evie walked away from him with tears in her eyes. He's not sure what Mal is hoping to gain from stalking Evie's locker considering the other girl had been avoiding the damn thing since Mal's little act of vandalism.

"She's gone. Isn't that what you wanted?"

Mal ignores Jay's question because she's not so sure anymore. Evie made her angry, but she'd be lying if she said she didn't get a certain thrill out of their interactions.

"She didn't even try to get it back. You said she seemed upset that day but she didn't even bother to fight for it. She just gave up." Mal can't deny that she had been anticipating some push back from Evie in the wake of the theft. The girl was a nuisance, after all, and Mal had pictured wild blue hair and angry red lips stomping on long lean legs down a corridor in her direction. She could even hear Evie's low raspy voice in her head, demanding she give the necklace back. But none of that had come to fruition, Evie had just slipped away and somehow Mal's the one who feels cheated.

"Maybe we should give it back to her," Jay suggests. He misses seeing Evie around school and he doesn't feel too great about being the reason for her absence. Not to mention Carlos had seemed particularly sullen this morning when he showed up to school yet again without Evie in tow.

"And why would we do that?" Mal demands sharply. The plan had been a success and even if she isn't feeling as pleased as she hoped, she has no intention of backpedaling now. That would only make her look weak and indecisive—characteristics completely unbecoming of the daughter of Maleficent.

"Because it's obviously important to Evie and you won't let me sell it so what's the point of holding onto the damn thing if we're not gonna make any money off it?" Jay shoots back.

"It's not about money!" Mal snaps, finding her anger once again. "It's about showing that pretty little princess how things work around here! Not everyone lives a picture-perfect life in their big castle with their loving mommy who adores them and showers them with gifts. She has some nerve showing off that thing around here!"

Jay just smirks, choosing to ignore the majority of Mal's rant in favor of one particular word of note. "You think Evie's pretty?"

"Shut up," Mal growls, stalking away from the cocky thief.

Jay chuckles to himself, amused by Mal's erratic behavior, and trails behind her. Classes are in session but there's still plenty of kids lingering in the halls—this is a school full of villain kids after all. Still, Jay's a little surprised to find Carlos loitering in front of his locker.

With Evie around, Carlos had started spending more of his time in class—even if it wasn't necessarily the class he had been assigned to. Carlos and Evie were constantly in the lab tinkering away or commandeering an empty classroom to work on some big secret project they wouldn't talk about. The first day Evie failed to show up to school Carlos carried on as if Evie's absence would only be temporary—he worked on his radio and ran some experiments on his own—but as one day turned into two and then three and the weekend approached, Carlos's mood seemed to grow more and more tense.

Now it's Monday and Jay could sense that Carlos had been holding onto hope that Evie would reappear after the weekend passed—if he's honest with himself, Jay was hoping for the same. But Evie's gone and Carlos is sulking and Jay feels pretty shitty for his role in it all.

"Yo Carlos, wanna come check out the docks after school?" Jay calls out as he and Mal reach the boy. "It's delivery day. Should be some fresh swag to loot. Might even be able to get a hold some of those missing pieces for that radio you're always messing around with."

Maybe Jay can provide Carlos a distraction, cheer him up with a little petty theft to take his mind off the fact that Jay and Mal had effectively driven his best friend from school.

Carlos shakes his head distractedly as he digs through his bag. "Can't."

"Got something better to do than committing petty crimes with your crew?" Jay asks.

Carlos doesn't lift his head, moving his search from his bag to his locker. "I'm going to check on Evie after school. I haven't seen her since last Wednesday."

"Yeah, cause Mal conned me into stealing her stupid heart necklace and Evie got upset," Jay mutters. "Give the princess a couple more days, I'm sure she'll get over it." Or at least Jay hopes she will.

Carlos snaps his head in Jay's direction. "You stole Evie's necklace?" he asks, chewing his bottom lip thoughtfully. "The one her mother gave her?"

It's Mal who cuts in to answer, defiant and defensive. "Damn right I did! She wouldn't stop showing the damn thing off. Like she was so damn proud of it. Someone had to put her in her place."

"We steal shit all the time. What's the big deal?" Jay adds, trying to avoid the feeling of guilt creeping into his chest.

Carlos doesn't answer, his brows pinched in concern and a serious expression on his face as he stares off into space. He's so wrapped up in his thoughts he fails to remember he's supposed to be avoiding Mal. He had been walking away from the purple-haired girl whenever she approached but with Evie gone, the gesture seems hollow and unnecessary.

"You seem awfully invested. You sure you and the princess don't have something going on?" Jay teasingly prods, hoping to lighten the mood and shake off his growing guilt with some gentle ribbing. "Because if you do—I'm happy for you, man! Chick's got like zero survival instinct but she's hot as fuck! I'm impressed, dude!"

A dark look crosses Carlos's face as he slams his locker shut. "I told you—we're friends. And don't talk about her like that."

Jay rolls his eyes. "It was just a joke. Chill."

"Whatever," Carlos says under his breath. He's not in the mood for Mal and Jay's nonsense, not when Evie is at home in gods know what shape.

Over the past few days, Carlos has stood outside Evie's castle gate and waited each morning with diminishing hope. The first day he chalked her absence up to passing illness, or possibly a bad mood, maybe even a bad hair day. It isn't exactly unusual for a kid to skip school on the Isle, not that Evie is your typical Isle kid. But then it was Thursday and Friday and still no sign of the girl. He even made two trips into the woods to their old meeting spot over the weekend but she never showed and he didn't see any evidence that she had been there.

Carlos had hoped the new week would come with Evie's return, but yet again he found himself standing in front of The Castle Across The Way at dawn this morning, waiting anxiously for his friend in the castle's ominous shadows. On his walk to school, which now felt dull and lonely without Evie at his side, he solidified his plan.

Five days without word from Evie is too long and he has no choice but to reach her himself. It won't be the first time he'd have to resort to sneaking into Evie's castle but doing so presented certain dangers, which is why it's always been a last resort. If the Evil Queen catches him she'll surely punish Evie for his interference and that's a risk Carlos would like to avoid at all costs. But he can't wait any longer; he needs to see that Evie is okay.

Carlos tucks the baggie he had finally located at the bottom of his locker into his pocket and stars to walk off. He knows Jay means no harm but he's too wound up to tolerate the other's boy's joking.

Jay speeds up and wraps an arm around Carlos's neck from behind, putting him in a headlock and messing up his hair. "Aw come on, man, don't be so grumpy."

Carlos attempts to shrug Jay's heavy arm from his neck. "Get off of me!"

"Make me!" Jay challenges with a widening grin. "You know what, Mal? I think our boy's got himself a little crush! Our little Carlos is all grown up!"

Jay glances back at the girl in hopes of pulling her into his game of teasing but Mal just stares back, seemingly uninterested in the boy's antics.

"Knock it off!" Carlos's cry is muffled against Jay's arm as the two boys grapple through the halls.

"You gonna have to try harder than that, C!" Jay taunts, tightening his hold as Carlos thrashes and grows increasingly agitated. "C—isn't that what Evie calls you?"

"Screw you, man!" Carlos finally manages to slip out of Jay's hold and shoves at the older boy's shoulder.

Jay bounces off a nearby locker with a laugh and attempts to pull Carlos into another headlock, but Carlos is quick and dodges him. Jay's fingers catch the leather of Carlos's jacket as he spins away and tug, causing a rumpled paper bag to spill from Carlos's jacket pocket. Jay notices first and is quick to snag the baggie from the floor, Carlos taking notice a moment too late.

"Ooh, what do we have here?" Jay sings, waving the paper bag like a carnival prize.

"Give me that!" Carlos groans and lunges for the baggie. Jay pulls his hand back sharply to evade him and Carlos huffs in defeat.

Jay peeks inside to observe the contents of the bag and cocks a curious eye in the other boy's direction. Carlos, haunched over at the waist as he takes a moment to catch his breath, glares up at him. "What's the matter? Didn't get enough to eat at lunch? You gotta take better care of yourself, bro, you're a growing boy."

The bag is filled with crushed and broken pieces of the dry soup crackers they sometimes serve in the cafeteria. The crackers make a crinkling sound as Jay shakes the bag out in front of him, allowing Carlos to snatch it back with a scowl.

"They're not for me. They're for Evie," Carlos confesses, straightening his back and shoving the baggie back into his pocket. "Actually do either of you have any food on you?"

Mal tended to block out the boys' dumb roughhousing but she tunes back into the conversation at once, her curiosity effectively piqued at the mention of Evie's name.

"Food?" she questions.

Typically, Carlos would be more discrete in his mission but he's worried about Evie and the cafeteria's offerings had been particularly dismal today.

"I managed to grab some crackers and an only partially rotted apple but if she hasn't eaten since last Wednesday that's not gonna be enough." He digs the apple out his backpack and frowns. It's dented and browning and he's not so sure Evie will even eat it considering her aversion to the fruit.

"What do you mean hasn't eaten? Why wouldn't she have eaten since Wednesday?" Mal asks with a touch of surprise.

Carlos sighs, exasperated by the whole exchange. "Never mind. I'll figure something out."

"Carlos, wait!" Mal calls, jogging after him. "What's going on? Why do you have to check on Evie and bring her food?"

If Carlos didn't know any better he'd say Mal looks downright concerned.

"Evie's mom," he tries to explain but finds himself pausing to consider his words. "Well, she expects Evie to be perfect at all times. And if she's not—there's hell to pay."

Mal rears back, her face working through a myriad of emotions. She settles on perturbed. "Are you saying the Evil Queen starves Evie when she messes up?"

"Not just when she messes up," Carlos reveals with a dejected sigh. "But yes, amongst other things."

Perhaps Evie will kill him for revealing the truth (at least in part) about life in her mother's castle to her chief antagonist, but Carlos's nerves are wearing thin and his resolve has been wavering a little more each day. Evie's load is a heavy one to bear and Carlos has been shouldering it for so long now that the extra weight feels debilitating. For years, Carlos has remained loyal and trustworthy, keeping Evie's secrets close to his chest with fervent dedication. But what good has it done? Evie's life is still miserable and Carlos carries an unyielding sense of dread in the pit of his stomach. Is it really so selfish of him to want to let someone else in after all these years—someone who won't feel so indebted to keep Evie's secrets? He feels guilt at the thought alone.

Jay makes a face, digging his fingers under his beanie to scratch his head. "That's messed up."

"We'll come with you," Mal declares. The offer stuns Carlos and all he can do is gape at the purple-haired girl in shock and confusion.

"We will?" Jay adds, equally confused by Mal's sudden eagerness to help the girl who has been the target of so much of Mal's personal vitriol.

"Yes," Mal says, her eyes cutting dangerously in the boy's direction. "If Evie's mom is really that bad, Carlos is going to need backup. And we're a crew." As always, Mal is firm and assertive in her directive, but she's not oblivious enough to believe Jay and Carlos will actually buy her bullshit.

Carlos isn't stupid, he's noticed Mal's preoccupation with Evie from the second Mal heard her name. Mal has made plenty of enemies over the years and has adversaries in every corner of the Isle, but Carlos has never known her to devote so much time to one particular rival. Evie seems to be a special fixation of Mal's and Carlos has a pretty good idea why. Still, he never expected her to throw away all pretense and expose herself with such earnestness. Not when Mal has been living so far denial that she been actively trying to drive the object of her obsession away.

But despite his own selfish desire to unload some of Evie's emotional baggage, Carlos remains wary of Mal's intentions and unconvinced of her ability to truly give in to her feelings of affection for Evie— not to mention he's still pissed off at her for all the crap Mal's pulled at Evie's expense. Carlos may detect genuine concern on Mal's face, but he can't take the risk and expose Evie to any additional harm when she's likely to be found in a vulnerable state.

"Evie's not in our crew. She's my friend and I can look out for her on my own," Carlos says decidedly, eyes hardening as he gazes into his friends' faces. "Besides, you've already done enough."

Jay lowers his head in shame as Mal takes a hesitant step and calls out his name.

"Carlos."


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: Trigger warning for mentions of abuse and implied sexual assault this chapter and throughout the story.

Also for those asking, I try to update about once a week but that can always change.

Thanks for reading. Hope everyone is staying safe out there.

* * *

Carlos exits the grandiose doors of Dragon Hall to find Mal and Jay waiting for him at the bottom of the school's spiral stone steps. He's not sure how the two managed to beat him outside but he imagines it involved a lot of shoving of other students and threatening people in the halls.

Carlos pulls at the straps on his backpack and begrudgingly walks up to the pair. "I thought I told you I didn't want you guys coming with me."

Mal stands unapologetic, a challenging glint in her eye. "Too bad. We're coming."

"Don't look at me, Mal insisted," Jay shrugs. "I'm just tagging along to see what kind of cool shit the Evil Queen might have laying around that creepy castle of hers. And maybe to take another go at the princess since you two are definitely not banging," he finishes with a smirk.

Jay didn't exactly object when Mal informed him that they'd be ignoring Carlo's request and going along to Evie's castle anyway, but he sees no need to expose his own guilt or interest in Evie's well-being just yet. He'd much rather just hang back and watch Mal twist in her own confusing inner-turmoil.

"You are not stealing from Evie's Mom! Or hitting on Evie," Carlos warns flatly.

He's annoyed with Mal and Jay for disregarding his previous decision and insisting on joining him, but he can't deny that an ally like Mal could potentially change Evie's life. If he's right about Mal's hostility towards Evie stemming from her confusion and stubborn rejection of her own romantic feelings for the blue-haired girl, then perhaps a reality check concerning Evie's castle life is just what Mal needs to snap her out of her infuriating denial.

It may be a risk but after years of being allies, Carlos feels he can read Mal pretty well and her appearance in front of him at the moment only serves to reinforce his suspicion. But Mal's propensity for being a clueless dummy isn't the only reason for his reservations; Evie will no doubt be upset by the exposure of her deepest secrets. He has absolutely no intention of causing Evie any additional grief but Carlos is willing to suffer the consequences of betraying Evie's trust if it means keeping her safe in the future. He just hopes Evie won't hate him for too long.

"Have you met me? Stealing's kind of my thing," Jay says with a roll of his eyes. "Pretty girls are also my thing," he adds with a grin.

"Well, not today it isn't," Carlos declares seriously. "Do you know what that witch will do to Evie if she finds out one her schoolmates stole from her castle? So you better keep your hands to yourself, Jay, and if you don't think you can help yourself then don't come!"

Carlos's voice is hard and filled with bite Jay is unaccustomed to hearing from the boy. He's actually kind of impressed with Carlos for standing up to him.

Green eyes shift to cast a cautionary glare in the older boy's direction. "Jay, behave," Mal commands mildly as if she's reprimanding a small child.

"Alright, alright. Relax. I won't take anything," Jay agrees with a half-hearted huff, throwing his hands up in surrender as he shakes his head at Carlos. "Gees have you always been this uptight?"

"Oh, before I forget," Mal starts, interrupting the boys' tense staring contest. She shucks her messenger bag off her shoulder and pulls the zipper open, holding it out so Carlos can see the contents. "I got some granola, a piece of bread, a few almonds, and half a container of orange juice," she lists. "For Evie."

Carlos nods. "That's good. Thanks." Suspicion confirmed—Mal cares about Evie and is just too pig-headed to admit it. The feeling of relief is fleeting. Mal may not be a threat to Evie, but he still has no idea what condition he's going to find the girl in or how she's going to react to him betraying her trust.

Thanks to the Isle's permanent lack of sunshine, daytime is brief and dusk greets the trio as they make their way to The Castle Across The Way. The only thing that kept Carlos from leaving school early to reach Evie was the need for the cover of nightfall. Carlos knows the Evil Queen to be perceptive and paranoid, particularly when Evie is confined to her room, and the dark is a necessary ally if they're going to be successful in avoiding detection.

They walk is long and quiet, with only Jay's occasional observations or silly questions interrupting the silence. Carlos leads the way, walking the same path he and Evie walked days earlier with newfound dread and determination.

Mal follows without complaint, quietly soaking in the surroundings as they near Evie's castle. She's been to The Castle Across the Way once before—when she had been so coldly and callously turned away from Evie's 6th birthday party all those years ago. The memory, once a source of great anger and bitterness for Mal, now only solicits a dull sense of sadness within her. Mal's not sure why hearing Carlos say Evie likely hasn't eaten in five days upset her so much, or why she felt compelled to tear through the school grounds looking for food she could bring the girl, but the need to see Evie—to look upon her face and know that she's okay—is overwhelming. The pressure to alleviate fears Mal didn't know she was capable of entertaining pushes down on her chest with a sense of urgency she can't seem to mollify. It's all a little scary and disturbing and new—Mal can practically feel the fractures tearing through her self-made armor as she marches closer to her destination.

"Okay. That's Evie's window," Carlos says, coming to a stop in front of an old crumbling tower and pointing up towards a darkened window several stories high.

Evie's castle is not as stately as Mal recalls. The stones are broken and covered in moss, the windows are dirty and cracked, and thick knotted vines have overgrown the facade. Broken shutters hang carelessly from glassless windows and leaky gutters make eerie dripping sounds that echo through the darkened forest. It's less posh and more decrepit than she remembers and Mal wonders if her childhood memories are somewhat misinformed.

Carlos cautiously scans the grounds, his eyes surveying every window and door in view before he pushes through the brush that surrounds the castle. Watching an anxious Carlos charge towards Evie's castle despite his obvious fear, Mal becomes acutely aware of the fact that it isn't just the state of Evie's castle she has been wrong about, but the state of Evie's life overall.

"What are you doing?" Jay asks, curiously watching Carlos search for something.

"Climbing," Carlos answers plainly.

Jay looks to Mal for backup but the girl seems more focused than curious, her brows furrowed and lips pursed as she watches Carlos feel along the tower's stone wall.

"Yeah, I can see that," Jay deadpans. "Why are you climbing?"

Carlos turns back to Jay, his expression tight and inpatient. He knows he's only seconds from coming face to face with Evie and he's nervous about how he'll find her.

"'Cause we can't exactly knock on the front door and ask the Evil Queen to let us in to visit the daughter she's keeping locked up," he snaps.

"Okay, so let me get this straight," Jay drawls, picking up a fallen branch from the ground and swinging it at the bushes in front of him. "I can't steal anything and now I have to scale a three-story castle and break into some crazy old witch's house to give your girlfriend a piece of bread?"

"It's four stories," Carlos amends, grabbing the branch out of Jay's hand. "And in case you forgot, no one asked you to come!"

Carlos blows the air out of his cheeks and turns back to his search.

"What's the problem, Jay?" Mal interjects, wanting to keep the bickering to a minimum. "You love breaking and entering. And climbing."

Jay nods and shrugs. "That's true. Alright, lead the way, Carlos."

"Okay, there should be a…" Carlos trails off. "Oh, here it is." Carlos pulls on a worn knotted rope hanging along the castle's old iron drainage pipe.

Jay raises his brows. "Do this often?"

"When I need to."

Mal wants to ask how often Carlos needs to sneak Evie food but she lets the question die in her throat. Carlos starts his ascent up the rope and Mal only takes a moment to shake off her unease before following him up.

"Okay, now that was fun," Jay declares as he swings a leg over the window sill and steps inside Evie's darkened room behind Mal.

Mal snaps her head around to hush the boy. "_Shut up_!"

"Be quiet, both of you," Carlos chastises, voice just a scratch above a whisper as he moves about the familiar room unhindered by the darkness.

"Evie," Carlos calls out softly. "Evie, it's Carlos. And Mal and Jay."

Mal stands awkwardly in the dark, unable to see much beyond Carlos's moving shadow.

"Jay, the lamp," Carlos instructs. "Turn it on, not swipe it."

Jay grumbles under his breath but follows Carlos's order, using the moonlight peeking in through the open curtains to find the lamp sitting on Evie's vanity.

Once switched on, the lamp casts a soft glow of light over the room and Evie's bed comes into view. Carlos at its side, face twisted with concern.

"Is she okay?" Mal asks, staring at the unmoving lump on what she can only assume is Evie's bed. From her spot, Mal can make out the shape of Evie's body under a thin white sheet and a mess of unruly blue hair peeking out from the top.

"Rise and shine, Princess, you got company," Jay greets, awkwardly shuffling closer to the bed. He attempts to peek over Mal's shoulder but Evie's back is turned to them and he can't see her face.

Carlos takes a seat on the edge of Evie's bed and clears his throat. "Evie, hey, it's Carlos. I'm going to put my hand on your shoulder, okay? It's just me."

Mal watches anxiously as Carlos attempts to rouse the unmoving princess. Carlos is far from aggressive and easily the most timid of their group, but still, she's never seen him be so gentle towards another person.

"Hey, come on Eves, can you look at me?" Carlos prods softly.

Evie groans but makes no attempt to move. "Carlos, it hurts."

It's a weak pitiful cry and Mal's ears burn at the sound.

Carlos moves his head as if he's searching for injuries but he can't see much beyond the white sheet. "Where? Where are you hurt?"

Slowly Evie rolls her body over to face him.

"Oh, Evie," Carlos whispers, reaching for her face but not actually touching her. "What did she do to you?"

Evie is almost unrecognizable—with swollen blackened eyes, a busted bloody lip, and bruised and broken skin overtaking her normally picture-perfect face.

Mal takes a step back, bumping into Jay's chest in her haste. Jay places his hands on her shoulders to steady her as a hushed "_my gods_" slips from her lips. A profound heaviness settles in the center of her chest and Mal's heart aches at the sight of the battered girl in front of her.

"Her mom did that?" Jay asks, his voice quiet. Despite the lack of his usual playfulness, he sounds more child-like than Mal has ever known him to in the past.

Carlos's shock seems to wear off the quickest, perhaps because he's most accustomed to the sight. He quickly shifts into caretaker mode, extending a hand to Evie. "Can you sit up? We brought food."

"We?" Evie repeats groggily as she tries to push herself up against the headboard with Carlos's assistance.

"Mal and Jay, from school. They're here too," Carlos explains, hoping the information won't be too ill-received.

Evie pulls back from Carlos as sharply as her weakened body will allow. There's no trace of betrayal in her expression, which Carlos is thankful for, but the frightened wary look on her face breaks Carlos's heart.

"Hey, calm down. It's okay," he attempts to soothe her.

"We're not gonna hurt you," Jay says, still standing a safe-distance behind Mal. He's been on the receiving end of plenty of beatings from his father but never had he been left in such bad shape. He can't imagine it'd take much physically to knock Evie down or keep her restrained, so her mother, or whoever was responsible for her injuries, must have taken pleasure in inflicting such great pain on the girl. At the thought, Jay's fists clench at sides and he finds himself exhaling sharply and shaking his head.

Evie jerks her head back. Her darkened eyes peer at Carlos with apprehension. "They shouldn't be here."

"They were worried."

"M-Mal hates me! They…They're gonna …" Evie's voice is hoarse and she struggles to push words passed cracked lips. "They shouldn't be here!"

The ache in Mal's chest twists and throbs at Evie's broken words. It's unlike any pain she's ever known before—deeper and more intense. Guilt and anguish overwhelm her, stretching to fill every inch of her body. Hadn't she wanted Evie to fear her? To run home and cower in her castle? So why does the hurt and fear in Evie's voice feel like a million devastating jabs to her heart.

"Evie, calm down. Please. You're gonna hurt yourself," Carlos pleads. He looks back at Mal and Jay with a frown, his mind working overtime as he second-guesses his decision. He never meant to cause Evie any distress by allowing Mal and Jay to follow him, but he truly believes Evie can benefit from their protection—he just needs to get everybody on board. "They're not here to harm to you. Trust me, okay? They're my friends, they wouldn't hurt you. I wouldn't let them."

Evie relaxes ever so slightly against the mattress at Carlos's reassurance, her tired eyes falling closed to appease her weakened body.

Carlos does his best to set his emotions aside and refocus on the task at hand: helping Evie. "Mal, help me get her up."

Mal's eyes go wide at the request. Certainly, Evie doesn't want her anywhere near her at the moment.

"Evie you have to sit up and eat," Carlos instructs firmly but gently. "When was the last time you put something in your stomach?"

Evie gives a soft whine, squeezing her eyes shut tighter. "I can't. Please. I don't feel well."

"We'll take it slow. Okay? Just a few bites. For me?" Carlos prods.

He gives Mal a pointed look and she reluctantly comes around to kneel on the other end of Evie's bed. She still thinks her helping is a terrible idea but Carlos apparently gets bossy when he's worried and she doesn't want to test him at the moment.

Mal attempts to slide a hand against Evie's back and guide her into a sitting position but Evie flinches violently at her touch, curling towards Carlos with a strangled cry. Mal rips her hand away like it had been licked by fire and jumps back from the bed.

"Shit! Sorry!" Mal sputters. "I didn't mean—"

"Hey, hey, it's just Mal. Okay? Just Mal. You're okay," Carlos interrupts, directing his words to Evie with patience and tenderness. "You have to warn her before you touch her," he says to Mal before turning back to Evie. "Mal's going to help you get up, okay? Evie? You're gonna feel her hand on your back but it's okay. It's just Mal."

_Just Mal_. Normally that would infuriate Mal. She isn't _jus_t anything. She's Maleficent's daughter, the badest villain kid on the Isle. She's worked hard to be feared, to be a name that strikes panic in people's hearts like her mother's— but right now, all she wants is for Evie not to be scared of her.

Mal attempts to touch Evie again, this time clearing her throat loudly and awkwardly announces what she's doing. Carlos does most of the work, gripping Evie under the arm and pulling her up but Mal keeps her hand protectively braced against her back, feeling the warmth of Evie's body through her nightgown as she guides the girl into a seated position. Evie ends up propped against the intricately carved headboard of her old mahogany bed, sweating and out of breath, and Mal cringes at the smattering of blood visible on Evie's white bedsheets now that she's moved.

Carlos spreads the collection of food he and Mal had gathered out over the sheets as Evie looks on wearily.

"Just a few bites," Carlos repeats his earlier promise.

Mal can't help but be pleased when Evie carefully selects the almonds she swiped from her teacher's desk last period.

Evie takes small deliberate bites as Carlos smiles at her encouragingly, holding one of her hands with his own and pressing one almond at a time into the other. The moment feels almost intimate and Mal finds herself looking away to give Evie her privacy. She catches Jay's eye over the bed and notices the somber expression on the boy's usual grinning face. Jay has been her right-hand man for years now and Mal can read the question on his mind—the same one that's been plaguing her since Carlos revealed the truth behind the Evil Queen's treatment of her daughter. Mal supposes she should be the one to step up to the plate.

"What-what happened?" Mal finally asks once Evie has given up on eating.

Evie turns her head slowly towards Mal, her eyes seeming to struggle to focus. "My mom wasn't happy I lost the necklace she gave me."

Mal's heart drops at the truth and she feels like she might be sick. There's a nauseating churning in the deepest part of her stomach, and shame sends a flush of heat rolling up from her chest to her cheeks. Her head feels foggy and feverish, but despite every survival instinct she's acquired telling her to run, she can't seem to make her wobbly legs move or take her eyes off Evie. Her fears are confirmed—this is her fault and she won't turn away from Evie now.

When Carlos said Evie was being starved as punishment by the Evil Queen, Mal was of course horrified. And maybe momentarily confused by her own horror. But she was also selfishly hoping the punishment was for something Evie did when she returned home from school. She didn't want to acknowledge the possibility that Evie might have suffered the consequences of Mal's own vindictive act. Her intention had been to _upset _Evie, she never wished to cause physical harm to the girl. In fact, Mal had a hard time imagining physical punishment and Evie in the same sentence. Evie was supposed to have the charmed perfect life of a princess, not the hopeless bleak existence of the most unfortunate of the Isle kids.

"Shit, princess, we didn't mean to get you into trouble. It was just a joke," Jay says, shoving his hands into his pockets and looking at the floor in shame.

"Mother didn't find it funny," Evie replies tiredly, her slow languid words like daggers to Mal's cracking heart.

Worse than Mal's own self-inflicted misery is the fact that Evie doesn't even sound angry with her. There's no bite or malice in Evie's words, no accusations or blame behind her eyes. Maybe Mal would feel less guilty if Evie had the energy to conjure up such fiery emotions, but instead, Evie looks resigned to her fate, like she's been here a million times before and knows she'll be here again. Mal feels an inexplicable burning urge to make sure that doesn't happen.

"Take a few more bites, please," Carlos's voice breaks through the tension, his almond-filled hand outstretched to Evie. "And drink the juice Mal brought. It's good for you."

Evie gives Mal a long questioning look at the mention of her name before rolling her head back towards Carlos. "I don't think I can keep it down."

Carlos shakes his head sadly, his hands falling to his lap. "I should have come sooner. I didn't know about the necklace, Eves. I didn't know she'd be this mad. I'm sorry."

Evie moves her hand to cover Carlos's. "C, it's okay. I'm okay," she says, doing her best to muster a reassuring smile and a firm hand squeeze. But she can barely get the muscles in her mouth to twitch upward and her grip is so weak, her fingers merely flex against Carlos's.

"Thank you all for coming but you should go now," Evie declares. "I have an appointment tonight and I need to get ready." Evie attempts to cement her dismissal of the group's concern by pushing herself off the bed but the pain radiating through her chest makes her wince and fall back against the mattress with a defeated sigh.

"Appointment?" Mal asks curiously. "Like a doctor's appointment?" Mal had never actually seen a doctor but she thought maybe the Evil Queen might know someone, a witch doctor perhaps.

Evie's eyes widened at Mal's question, realizing what she just said. Her frantic eyes lock with Carlos who flies up from the mattress with a cry.

"Damn it! No! No! She can't! I'm not leaving you! You're not doing that!" Carlos rants as he angrily paces the floor at the foot of Evie's bed.

"Carlos," Evie pleads, doing her best to sound calm despite the drumming of her heart in her ears. She knows she screwed up and she can only hope to control the situation at this point. It's bad enough Mal and Jay have seen her injured, she can't allow them to know the truth in its entirety—it's much too dangerous. She's not mad per-say, she knows Carlos always has her best interest at heart, but next time they're alone she'll certainly be asking him what the hell he was thinking bringing them along. Carlos must know something about Mal she doesn't because this is the second time he's made the questionable decision to involve the purple-haired girl in her life and Evie can't help but be baffled.

"What's going on? What kind of appointment?" Mal asks more pressingly this time. She had never seen Carlos get so upset so quickly and she needs to know what's causing a member of her crew so much distress.

Carlos rushes to grab his bag from the floor, standing at Evie's bedside with a look of wild determination in his eyes. "You're coming with us. You can crash at the hideout until we figure out something more permanent."

Evie shakes her head softly. "I have to get cleaned up before he gets here."

"Evie, no! This has to stop!"

"It won't be so bad tonight. It's only Jasper. He's not so rough."

Carlos cringes at her attempt to reassure him. Her voice is soft and sweet-sounding and she smiles at him like she's not about to endure an unimaginable horror at the hands of one of his mother's lackeys.

Jasper—that lanky bumbling idiot who is always looking to leech off his mother. Carlos hates all the men who come to Evie's room, but he holds a special hatred in his heart for Jasper. He had reacted particularly bad when Evie mentioned one day that Cruella's henchman was one of her regulars visitors. He can't help but feel somewhat responsible—if Jasper wasn't coming and going to _his house_ to see _his mother_, maybe he'd never have come across the Evil Queen and Evie.

"Evie—" Carlos chokes out, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Is this what's been happening since Friday? How many _appointments_ have you had?"

Evie's face falls at the question. "Mom was so mad about the necklace. She said I had to earn back it's value. She even lifted her rule about visible marks. My last appointment really went with it."

"Does anyone wanna tell us what the hell you two are talking about?" Jay questions. The boy has been so uncharacteristically quiet that Carlos almost forgot he was there.

Evie is quick to dismiss the question, once again slipping her mask on. "Nothing. Now if you'll excuse me I have to—" She throws the sheet aside and attempts to stand yet again but hisses sharply once her feet hit the floor.

"Evie!" Carlos calls out, attempting to reach her.

Carlos is just a step too far and Evie finds herself falling backward with a frustrated cry, only to be caught by strong arms.

"I got ya," Mal breathes against Evie's back, helping to ease her back onto the mattress. She feels Evie tense in her arms and then pull herself out of Mal's embrace.

"Sorry, I just got up too fast, I think." Evie directs her apology to Carlos, refusing to look back and make eye contact with Mal.

Carlos sighs, he's been on edge all day and things are as bad as he could have imagined. "Just take it easy. What is it? Your ribs again?"

"I don't think they're broken this time, just bruised," Evie answers, chewing her lip to keep the pain from showing on her face.

"Let me see."

"Carlos."

"Let me see. Lie back," Carlos insists.

Evie relents, knowing it'd be quicker to indulge Carlos than argue with him. It's only a matter of time before her mother is at her door with Jasper in tow and she'd rather be alone when that happens.

Carlos gently guides Evie down onto the mattress, carefully situating the sheet so that she is covered from the waist down. He then guides her hands as she pulls up her pale blue nightgown to just below her chest.

Beside them, Mal mutters something unintelligible under her breath and Jay looks away in anger. Maybe it's because he can't picture Evie fighting back, or maybe he's just a chauvinistic asshole, but Jay hates seeing Evie so badly battered. He suspects Mal feels the same judging by the murderous look in her eye.

"That looks bad," Carlos notes with a deep frown. He pushes his fingers not-so-gently against Evie's chest. "Does this hurt?"

"Carlos!" Evie whines sharply, twisting away with a painful wheeze.

"Sorry," Carlos says, pulling her nightgown down and stepping back. "I think they may be broken. And you probably need stitches for that gash on your head."

Evie touches her hand to her forehead, where the back of her mother's ring-adorned right hand has torn up her ordinarily unblemished skin.

"You don't think it'll scar, do you?" Evie asks. "Mother would be so upset with me if it scars.

"If your mother doesn't want you covered in scars, maybe she shouldn't beat the living shit out of you for losing a stupid necklace!" Jay snaps, his chest heaving with frustration.

Evie looks taken aback by the boy's blunt statement and Carlos is quick to scold him for his insensitivity.

"Shut up! What was that noise?" Mal asks, disrupting the boys' budding squabble.

A hush falls over the room as the four teens strain to hear Mal's mystery sound.

"Sounds like the door," Jay notes. "Guess not all visitors take the long way up like us."

A grim expression passes over Evie's face. "That must be Jasper. I'm not prepared for him. Mother will—"

"Fuck your crazy-ass mother," Jay cuts her off with a huff of annoyance. He doesn't know the lady but he definitely hates her.

"Who's Jasper?" Mal implores. She wants answers and she's getting awfully annoyed at being ignored.

"We have to get you out of here. We can go to our hideout," Carlos suggests, glancing in Mal's direction to see if she'd dare object. They have strict rules about who is allowed inside the hideout—it's meant for crew members only—but Carlos doesn't give a damn.

"Carlos, no!" Evie cries, shaking her head furiously. "You know running away doesn't work. How many times have we tried it? She'll find me. She always finds me."

"She doesn't know where the hideout is. She doesn't even know it exists," Carlos argues. He leans forward to grab ahold of her hand again, his eyes dark and desperate. "Come on, Eves, please. I can't leave you here knowing what's going to happen to you tonight."

Evie is crying now and Carlos is pleading with her with the gravest expression Mal has ever seen on his face. She's still very confused and when the timing is right she'll demand answers, but she knows whatever it is has to be bad. Carlos doesn't exactly have it easy himself at home, so for him to be in such a frantic state over whatever awaits Evie—it has to be bad.

"What's going to happen? Who is that guy?" she tries to demand. She knows her attempt at commanding power falls flat, but it's sort of hard to exert leadership skills when your knees feel like they're going to give out.

"Evie! Evie, dear!" the Evil Queen calls from down the hall. The woman's voice is loud and unnecessarily high-pitched, and it bounces off the empty walls of the castle with disconcerting fervor. "Jasper is here. I hope you're decent, my dear. Well, more than decent of course."

A shrill peal of laugher echoes through the door and Evie goes rigid at the sound. Carlos is starring at the door as if he's capable of keeping it locked with the force of his mind alone.

"I told him about that terrible fall you took down the stairs at school," the Evil Queen's boisterous voice continues, growing louder as she nears. "Such a dreadfully dangerous place. I knew sending you there was a mistake. But we were able to work out a deal. Jasper will overlook those hideous bruises for tonight and next week when you're feeling better, you'll make it up to him."

Mal watches Evie tremble as her mother's voice floats down the hallow hall and through the old cracked door.


	11. Chapter 11

With one eye on the door and the other on a rigid fear-stricken Evie, Mal is quick and decisive. "We're going to the hideout," she declares. "Jay, help me. Carlos, get the rope."

Carlos wipes his tears on his jacket sleeve before hurrying to sweep up the snacks he brought into his backpack. With a heartened glance at Evie, he runs to the window to throw down the rope they used to climb up.

Evie shakes her head from her spot on the bed, eyes fixed straight ahead. "She's going to be mad. She's going to be so mad."

"We'll deal with your mother later," Mal says, her voice a little harder than intended. She will deal with the Evil Queen at some point, but right now they need to get Evie some place safe. "Jay's going to pick you up now."

Jay jumps eagerly at Mal's command, all too happy to take Evie away from this place. "Ready, Princess?" he asks, kneeling at Evie's bedside. He takes her lack of protest as permission and carefully slips one arm under Evie's knees and the other around her back. Evie remains tense and wide-eyed but offers no objection. Jay gives her a wary smile. "Up we go," he sings as he scoops her up. At first, Jay is shocked at how light Evie feels in his arms but quickly comes to the sobering realization that his surprise is misplaced considering her mother starves her.

With Evie securely in Jay's arms, Mal moves hurriedly about the room, grabbing the sheet from the bed and throwing it over Evie, who is dressed only in a thin pale blue slip. With the bed stripped-down, Mal can see more deep crimson-colored stains where Evie had lain. Her blood boils and her fists curl with the desire to pummel the person responsible, but that will have to wait.

Three quick raps ring out from the door and Evie jumps at the sound. Jay sends Mal a tense look and tightens his hold.

"Evie dear, open up," the Evil Queen calls out almost cheerfully. Of course, Evie can't possibly open the locked door from the inside, but appearances are everything to the Evil Queen and she always did like to play these sorts of mind games with her daughter.

Carlos has already slipped out the window and started down the rope. Jay is right behind him, doing his best to hold Evie with one arm and the rope with the other, relying heavily on his feet clenched tightly around the rope to balance. "Put your arms around my neck and hold on tight," Jay instructs. Despite her apparent shock, Evie does as she's told and wraps her arms around Jay's neck.

Mal watches as blue hair disappears below the window sill. Just as the sound of a deadbolt unlocking reaches her ears, Mal darts through the opening behind the pair, slamming the window shut behind her.

As soon as Mal's feet hit the dirt she's ready to bolt but a hand reaches out to grab her arm and stop her.

"Hold up," Carlos whispers. "When the Evil Queen notices Evie is gone the first thing she's going to do is look out the window for her, and if she sees us, she'll have a lead into finding Evie."

Mal takes a breath, grateful for Carlos's clear-headedness. While the location of their hideout is a secret, Mal doesn't want that evil bitch using their identities to somehow track down Evie.

Jay, Mal, and Carlos press their bodies back against the cool stone of the castle wall, making themselves as small as possible. Evie clings tightly to Jay, her head buried against his chest as he holds her. Jay can feel her body shake with quiet sobs and his shirt grows damp with her tears but he doesn't mind. He does his best to offer hushed words of comfort under his breath but he's not sure Evie is even listening to him, which is probably for the best because he's not very good with words. Gods, what is happening to him? He is going soft for a girl he hardly knows.

The crisp night air rustles the bushes that obscure them and Mal reaches out a hand to tuck the blanket around Evie's body more securely. Jay catches her eye and gives her a knowing smile but Mal is quick to look away.

"Okay. I think we're clear. Let's go," Carlos decides, leading the way out of the shadows of the towering castle.

The walk to the hideout is silent and tense. It takes everything Mal has to keep from repeatedly turning to look back at Evie, but she knows the girl is safe in Jay's arms and so she walks forward with conviction. Mal's decision had been impulsive and emotion-driven and she has no plan for what they'll do with Evie beyond tonight. Taking Evie to the hideout may have been Carlos's idea, but Mal knows the boys will look to her for guidance beyond this first step and she hasn't the slightest clue how to proceed.

* * *

"Put her in my bed," Carlos says, once the four are safely inside the gang's sanctuary.

"Use mine. It's cleaner," Mal interjects with a suspicious look at Carlo's unmade bed in his corner of the hideout. "I actually wash my sheets."

Carlos blushes but nods at Mal's order. It's not like laundry has ever been a big concern of his.

Mal completes a quick look through the hideout to make sure the location hasn't been somehow compromised. It's never been a concern of hers in the past but she wants to be extra cautious tonight. She had looked over her shoulder half a dozen times before she deemed it clear to access the hideout's hidden entryway from the street.

Jay deposits Evie on Mal's bed, careful not to jostle her battered ribs too much. "Here we are, Princess. Home sweet home."

Carlos has thought about sneaking Evie away to the hideout for years now, but Evie would never oblige him. In the past it had been a fleeting somewhat implausible fantasy, but seeing Evie now sitting primly on Mal's bed, away from the horrors of her castle, floods him with relief. She'll be safe for the night and for that Carlos is grateful.

"I think I have some sweat pants you can wear," Carlos mumbles as he disappears into his section of the hideout to look through his stuff.

"I'll grab her a t-shirt," Jay volunteers.

With the boys off on their scavenger hunt for clothes for Evie, Mal finds herself standing awkwardly at the foot of her own bed. Her eyes lock onto Evie, who sits stiffly at the end of the mattress—her bare feet dangling over the side and her face twisted into a grimace.

There's pain in every breath Evie takes. With every twist or turn of her frail broken body, Mal can see that pain etched on Evie's face clear as the sky in Auradon. She can hear it in every sharp shaky inhale Evie tries to suppress, feel it in every wince and whine Evie fails to mask. Mal aches to do something to take it all away, to say something that can erase the hauntingly hurt look from Evie's eyes—eyes that won't even look in Mal's direction.

Mal shuffles her feet in place, itching to move closer to Evie but quickly thinking better of the idea. She feels anxious and useless, watching Evie try in vain to conceal her own discomfort. Mal clasps her hands, writing them together only to let them fall uselessly at her sides a moment later.

There are far too many thoughts swimming around inside her head and words of apology come tumbling out of her mouth without warning or preamble. "Evie, I'm _so_ sorry. If I had any idea—I would have never," Mal flounders, unable to put her need to right this wrong into intelligible words.

Apologies are untrodden ground for Mal, and not surprisingly, she kind of sucks at them. She could never quite get her mouth around the word "sorry" in the past, at least not in a non-sarcastic way, and she never felt the need to try. But she's never been more sincere in her life—she is sorry, truly deeply _sorry _for the hurt she's caused Evie and the obvious pain she's ignored_,_ but the word doesn't seem to carry nearly as much weight as Mal needs it to.

For so long, Mal has actively spurned the word _sorry,_ believing it to be a show of vulnerability and weakness, but now she wonders why she ever gave it so much power in the first place. Such a simple word can never do justice to the feeling of regret ripping at her heart right now. How is one little word supposed to make up for a lifetime of pain and suffering?

Mal knows this thing with Evie goes back much farther than Evie's first day at Dragon Hall, when Mal had blindly decided to wage war against the girl who used to be her best friend. Mal realizes now that Evie has been suffering at the hands of her mother for much longer—and Mal knows she's the reason Evie has known nothing but misery and suffering for the past ten years. How is she supposed to apologize for that? How is _sorry_ ever going to be enough?

Evie watches silently as Mal struggles to get out her apology, not giving an inch of comfort to the guilt-riddled girl.

"Evie. Who was that man?" Mal continues, unable to help herself. She still has so many questions about what transpired at The Castle Across the Way tonight—questions she's not sure she's ready to hear the answers to. "And why was your mother bringing him to your room?"

"Oh cut the act, please. I don't have the energy for your games today, Mal," Evie says coldly.

She's still struggling to wrap her head around the events of the night and she hasn't yet decided how she feels about being here in Mal's hideout of all places. Her relief at not having to serve Jasper tonight is real but restrained. Is one night's reprieve worth the inevitable punishment she'll endure when she returns to her mother?

Evie had long ago given up on her fantasies of running away from her mother's castle; her unforgiving reality eventually eroding all sense of hope in her young heart. She's accepted the terms of her life now—resigned herself to being used and degraded as if it were normal. But there had been a time when Evie was naive enough to sit with an eager Carlos under the cover of the old oak trees in the thick of the forest and hash out elaborate plans of escape. The pair had even put a few of those plans into play, but their schemes never did end well. Evie had not-so-gently come to learn that she could not out-run her mother and men like Jasper would always be waiting for her.

Tonight is nothing more than a respite, a brief intermission in the unrelenting shit-show that is her life.

"It's not a game. Evie, I—"

Evie snaps her head towards the fumbling purple-haired girl with a dangerous glint in her eye, cutting off any explanation Mal might be trying to muster. She's not quite sure what Mal's angle is here but she's not going to play into the devious girl's hands. Mal may have brought her food and granted her access to her crew's secret hideout for the night, but Evie is not so foolish as to trust the girl who's made her life a living hell for the past two weeks—no matter what Carlos says. Her body may be weakened from days of abuse but her mind is still sharp and she's not nearly as vulnerable as Mal must suspect of her.

"Like you don't know? Like you're not getting a kick out of this? Gods! Today must feel like Christmas morning to you!" Evie lashes out.

"What are you talking about?"

Bright green eyes pinch together, Mal looking taken aback at Evie's outburst. Evie can't help but be impressed by Mal's dedication to this farce.

"Oh, come on," Evie scoffs, rolling her eyes at Mal's look of confusion. "You find out the prissy little princess you hate so much gets beaten and whored out by her mother and you're not thrilled? Please."

"_Whored out_," Mal repeats, utterly dumbfounded. The words taking a moment to click in her head and then suddenly everything becomes _horrifyingly _clear. Mal steps closer, shaking her head frantically. "Evie, no! Oh, gods! That's….that's horrible! I'm so sorry! I didn't know! I never—"

"Save it! I don't need your pretend pity," Evie spits, turning a defiant shoulder to the stunned girl.

Carlos clears his throat behind Mal, uttering a simple "Evie" to break through the tension. It's clear from the look on his face that he has heard at least some of the conversation but he doesn't comment on it.

Mal wonders how long Carlos has known about what goes on behind the walls of Evie's castle and why he didn't say something sooner. Evie may not be a part of the crew but she is Carlos's friend and Mal and Jay would have done something to help—maybe. Or at the very least Mal wouldn't have antagonized the girl when they first met at school. She wouldn't have called her names, or made all those childish jokes about her sleeping around, or teased her about Gaston—-and _damnit_, is Gaston one of Evie's regular appointments, too? Is that how she knows the Physical Education instructor? Mal shudders at the thought. And her locker, that stupid locker Evie was so damn happy about—Mal would have never written _that word_ across the door had she known the truth. Carlos should have warned her. He should have told her what Evie's life was really like because Mal never would have stolen that stupid necklace if she knew _this_ was going to be the outcome. She never meant for Evie to get hurt, not like this.

"I got some clean clothes you can put on. They'll probably be a little big but at least you'll be warm."

"Thanks, C," Evie says, looking past Mal. "Is there somewhere I can change and wash up?"

"Back there," Carlos answers, pointing to the hideout's makeshift bathroom. "We have a tub but the water doesn't run. We have to bring it up from the spigot outside and boil it. We can do that for you tomorrow morning. But there's a bucket of water and some rags you can clean up with for now."

Evie nods appreciatively but remains seated on the bed.

"Do you want some help?" Carlos asks.

Evie nods again before sheepishly admitting, "I can't really lift my arms over my head."

"Okay, no problem. You want me to help you get changed or would you be more comfortable with Mal since she's a girl?" Carlos suggests. He's helped Evie get cleaned up in the past but then he had been the only available option.

Mal whips her head towards the boy like he's crazy. Surely he can't expect her to help Evie undress.

"You," Evie says to Carlos, not sparing Mal a glance.

Carlos nods and helps Evie off the bed.

* * *

"Her mother makes her have sex with those men!" Mal rants to Jay. "That disgusting vile piece of trash! Someone should teach that old bitch a lesson!"

Jay frowns as he sits at the edge of his bed, watching Mal furiously pace before him. "The Evil Queen pimps out her own daughter? So that guy who showed up tonight…"

"Was coming to rape Evie! With her mother's permission!" Mal cries in disbelief. She's seen her share of horrors on the Isle but this situation with Evie feels different and much more heinous than anything she's encountered in the past. Mal is far from naive, she knows of women who trade their bodies for goods or money, and she's heard the tales of girls cornered by wolfish men in dark alleys, but being forced to surrender your body to predators at the behest of your own mother is a cruelty not even the daughter of Maleficent can grasp.

"That's disgusting," Jay says, physically recoiling from the information. He pulls his beanie off his head and pushes his fingers through his tangled hair. "No wonder Carlos got all worked up over the Princess."

Mal nods, fuming. Carlos—she needs to have a word with the boy. Unaccustomed to the strange new emotions battling for her attention, Mal falls back on her old familiar favorite—anger. Mal is angry. Most obviously at the Evil Queen and the perverts who prey on Evie, but also at herself for being so blind, and at Carlos for keeping her in the dark. She's even a little angry with Evie for not speaking up. Someone should have told her the truth so she could have intervened sooner. Or she should have figured it out on her own. It had all been right there in the way Evie behaved and how Carlos tried so hard to protect her, but it's like Mal's mind wouldn't let her see what was right in front of her because she wasn't ready to confront her own feelings for Evie. Her cowardliness kept her from helping Evie sooner and she's not so sure she can forgive herself for that.

A few minutes later Carlos emerges from the bathroom without Evie.

"Hey, uh, Mal," he starts, sounding tired and timid.

Mal's pacing comes to an abrupt halt. "What is it? Is Evie okay?"

"Yeah, well, not really, no, but that's not…" he trails off, looking down at his boots and scratching his head. "Um, do you have—I was wondering if—"

"Carlos, what is it? Just spit it out!" Mal snaps, cutting off the boy's insipid stammering.

"Do you have any, uh, lady products?"

"What? Like lipstick?" Mal questions incredulously. "Don't tell me she's worried about her makeup right now."

Carlos straightens up and shakes his head. "Like feminine stuff. For that time of the month."

"Do you mean pads? Tampons?"

Carlos blushes, nodding at Mal. "Yeah—yeah, pads. That should work."

"Got your period, Carlos?" Jay quips from his bed, his trademark grin back in place. The thief is currently lying back against the rusted metal frame of the bed's headboard, one arm bent behind his head and the other tossing his beanie into the air.

Mal and Carlos both turn to glare at him.

"For Evie," Carlos clarifies, his cheeks growing red. "The last guy—her appointment from last night was pretty rough with her and she's bleeding."

Jay sits up, letting his beanie fall into his lap as a string of curses spills from his mouth.

"Yeah. I think I have something. Give me a second," Mal answers somberly, turning away from the boys to hide her crestfallen expression.

Mal swears she's going to be sick. She's going to vomit all over her bed if she thinks anymore about what Carlos just told her. After a few minutes of rummaging she finds a couple of sanitary pads stashed under her bed. With such poor conditions on the Isle and the generally not-very-great health of its people, periods tended to be pretty irregular for most girls, so feminine care products aren't exactly readily available. Luckily, Mal had stashed away some leftover supplies from her last cycle a couple of months ago.

"Found them. I'll bring these to Evie."

Carlos looks like he wants to interject but his cheeks are still burning in embarrassment and he easily gives over to Mal's lead.

* * *

Mal knocks hesitantly on the door to the bathroom. There's no lock, the door doesn't even shut properly, but she's not about to just barge in on Evie. "Hey, it's Mal. Carlos said… I have something that might help." She cringes at the awkwardness of her own voice.

"Come in," comes Evie's gentle call.

Mal is surprised Evie doesn't scream at her to drop the pads and leave. Cautiously, she pushes the door open and steps inside. She isn't sure what she was expecting to find but it sure as hell wasn't Evie sitting on the edge of their old iron tub in Carlos's and Jay's way too big clothes with her sapphire hair swept up into a messy bun at the top of her head. Mal can't help but smile at how small the girl looks being swallowed up by all that fabric.

"I know I look ridiculous," Evie says shyly.

Mal shakes her head. "No—well yes, but in a cute way."

The look of genuine surprise on Evie's face gives Mal a moment to catch onto what she actually said. _Did she just call Evie cute? _

"Uh, Carlos mentioned…" Mal says, brandishing the pads. "Here."

"Thanks." Evie is quiet and pensive, much more subdued than she had been a few minutes earlier. A few seconds of awkward silence tick by as Mal wonders what could have caused the shift in Evie's mood.

"Does it—are you in pain?" Mal then asks. "Carlos said you were bleeding, you must be in pain."

Evie shrugs. "It's not so bad. I'm used to it."

"You shouldn't be," Mal insists, watching the emotions pass over Evie's bruised but still beautiful face. "Who was the guy? From last night?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes!" Mal cries, kneeling at the side of the tub and grasping Evie's hands in her own. "Tell me his name and I'll make him pay!" Mal has never wanted to hurt someone more.

"He did pay. He paid my mother 15 gold coins and 3 yards of fabric for me," Evie says with a humorless laugh, turning her head to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes.

Mal drops Evie's hands. "That's not funny."

"No, I suppose it's not," Evie agrees with a serious expression. "But it's the truth."


	12. Chapter 12

With Evie tucked away in her bed, Mal settles in for the night on the hideout's couch. It's stained with filth and smells of garbage, which is to be expected considering Carlos and Jay had found the thing in the trash and dragged it up to the hideout some months back. The broken springs dig uncomfortably into Mal's back whenever she turns and there's a suspicious damp spot on the center cushion, but she doesn't mind. It's not like she's doing muchactualsleeping anyway.

They had all decided to stay at the hideout with Evie for the night, and while the boys have since drifted off to sleep, Mal can't seem to shut her brain off. Whenever she closes her eyes she sees Evie with her battered face staring back at her through blackened eyes. If she starts to drift off, she hears Evie cry out in her head—the girl's soothing sultry voice replaced by a hoarse bitter cry.

_You find out the prissy little princess you hate so much gets beaten and whored out by her mother and you're not thrilled?_

_Thrilled_. Evie expected her to be _thrilled_. As if Mal would take pleasure in Evie's unimaginable suffering. But the truth had felt like an overwhelming blow to Mal's heart and hours later, she's still reeling from the truth that's been uncovered.

Mal forces out a deep breath and sits up, finally abandoning her half-hearted attempt at sleep. She can't quite decide what she feels worse about—the physical pain Evie has endured over the years, or the fact that Evie thinks Mal would relish in that pain. Evie had been her best friend as a child, how did they become so fractured and far removed from who they used to be?

The sound of Jay's soft snores sails through the night and disrupts Mal's wandering thoughts. In the midst of the quiet, she can hear Carlos tossing and turning in his bed on the other side of the hideout—that boy is never still, not even in his sleep. A thin wall of plaster separates her from Evie and Mal has already tip-toed to her corner of the hideout to peek through the cracked door three different times to check on the blue-haired girl.

Mal decides to make it four times and exhales with relief at the sight of Evie sleeping in her bed—although Evie's slumber appears far from peaceful. Her brow is creased and her face is twisted tight and breathy whimpers slip from her lips with every labored turn of her body. Even in her sleep, Evie seems to be shouldering the weight of the world.

Mal wrestles with the idea of waking Evie up to comfort her, to ease her of her unconscious burden, but decides she's likely to do more harm than good by startling the girl out of her sleep. Besides, comfort has never really been Mal's forte.

Dragging herself away from the doorway, Mal throws herself back down on the musty sofa and tosses her head back with a heavy sigh. She has all night to regret her mistakes and she figures she'll start at the beginning—-Evie's 6th birthday party. Evie's been locked away with only her monster of her mother for company for ten years and Mal can't help but feel responsible.

Carlos is the first to wake, long accustomed to rising at dawn in order to complete Cruella's extensive list of chores before school. With sleep still in his eyes and his hair a tousled mess, he shuffles across the floor and goes straight for the hideout's stash of digs up a bowl of cold tasteless oatmeal and some stale bread and plops down on the couch next to Mal.

"Couldn't sleep?" Carlos asks, dragging his gaze up from his oatmeal to meet Mal's tired eyes.

"I keep thinking about Evie with those men," Mal answers, voice drifting as she stares straight ahead.

Carlos hums in understanding. "Don't. You'll never sleep again."

Mal shakes her head, picking at her nails with her teeth. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"It wasn't my place," Carlos tells her.

Carlos has wanted to share the truth about Evie for as long as he could remember. From the day he had found Evie at their meeting spot in the forest, alone and sobbing on the cold dirty ground, Carlos felt the urge to run to someone and get help. His friend was hurt and he didn't know to help her himself. But this was the Isle and help didn't exist. He couldn't go to a parent or a teacher, they were the ones doing the hurting, and he, Mal and Jay hadn't yet formed their gang.

For years Carlos struggled with being the sole bearer of Evie's secret. He wanted to do more than just know the truth, he wanted to put an end to Evie's pain and take her away from the Evil Queen for good. But, be it due to loyalty or timidness, Carlos never could make the move on his own. He couldn't risk betraying Evie's trust if he wasn't certain it would lead to her safety, he was all she had. So when he picked up on the poorly concealed concern on Mal's face yesterday and noted how Jay's eyebrow arched with interest at the mention of Evie's name, Carlos decided it was finally time to ask for help, or at the very least invite the possibility of help into his and Evie's secret.

"Carlos, I wrote _slut_ on her locker," Mal whispers, sounding horrified with herself. "I basically accused her of fucking every student and teacher in school, including you."

Carlos blushes at the thought of him and Evie. "You didn't know."

"And Gaston? Gods. I knew that guy was a creep," Mal continues guiltily. "Why didn't you tell me that's why you wanted me to go to P.E. with Evie?" Mal's head burns with regret when she thinks back on the crude comments she made to Evie about the Physical Education teacher.

"What was I supposed to say?" Carlos asks with a half-hearted shrug. "_Hey Mal, do you mind keeping an eye on the new girl you hate in P.E. because our teacher is a creep who pays her mom to have sex with her?" _he deadpans_._ "Evie didn't want anyone to know."

"How long has this been going on?" Mal demands between breaths. "How many men—

Carlos cuts her off with a soft shake of his head. "I can't answer that. If Evie wants you to know the details, she'll tell you."

Mal frowns and stares down at her chewed-up nails. "I don't think Evie is ever going to speak to me again."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Carlos answers, thinking back to his conversation with Evie in the bathroom the night before.

As soon as he had gotten Evie cleaned up and changed into warm clothes, she took him to task for bringing Mal to her castle and demanded to know why Carlos would do something so reckless. Carlos didn't blame Evie for being upset or suspicious of Mal's intentions, but he did his best to assure her that Mal was not a threat and told her he truly believed Mal's interest in tagging alone stemmed from genuine concern. He stopped short of flat out telling Evie that Mal likely has a crush on her and was most likely acting out previously because she's much too obtuse to handle her own unfamiliar feelings, but he did share his suspicion that Mal still cares about her as a friend. Evie seemed to soften towards the other girl after hearing that and Carlos felt immediate relief in knowing Evie wasn't going to stay mad at him. He's also pretty hopeful he won't have to deal with Mal's cranky attitude towards Evie any longer.

But Carlos could only do so much, Mal will have to get her head out of her ass and take the next step on her own—whenever she's ready.

He eats his breakfast slowly and watches as Mal continues to pick at her nails. He's almost pleased to find the girl looking so anxious and rattled, because a Mal on the edge means a Mal in action, and he needs Mal to take action and do what he couldn't for Evie.

Carlos tears a piece from his bread to offer to Mal and she accepts easily. The pair eat their breakfast in silence until rustling is heard from behind them.

Mal whips her head around to see a groggy Evie emerge from her own room. She stops herself from jumping up and rushing over to her like an enamored school girl and instead offers an awkward half-wave, which she immediately regrets.

"Hey," Mal croaks in greeting. "You sleep okay?"

Evie nods, caught off-guard by Mal's enthusiastic interest, and covers a yawn with the back of her hand. "Yes. Thank you for giving me your bed for the night."

Mal wants to say "you're welcome" or something equally proper and polite, but instead she just shrugs and turns around, unsure why her throat is dry and her cheeks feel warm.

"Want some breakfast?" Carlos asks, already climbing over the back of the couch to scrounge up some food for Evie.

Evie tilts her head slightly and offers him a small but genuine smile of appreciation. Her posture is stiff and when she stretches on the ends of her toes, she winces and turns her head to hide her grimace. She shakes off Carlos's offer. "I should really get going."

"Going?" Mal questions, not missing the tense look on Evie's face when she moves. "You're not going home, are you?"

"Of course I am. It's morning," Evie answers. Waking up in Mal's bed had felt like some weird fever dream, or nightmare, but when Evie attempted to sit up and toss her legs over the side of the bed, the reality of the previous night smacked her right in her bruised ribs.

She had allowed Mal to play hero last night because every princess needs a hero on occasion, but the break of a new day brings a renewed sense of clarity. Last night, her mind had been clouded with dread and her body worn down from days of abuse and neglect. She was hungry and weak and Jasper's impending arrival had her empty stomach churning with well-known terror. So she yielded to Mal's plan and allowed herself to be swept up in Jay's arms to placate a well-intentioned Carlos. A dramatic late-night rescue was everything six-year-old Evie could have dreamed of, but Evie no longer believes in fairytales. There's no happy ending in sight for this princess and she knows she'll inevitably suffer the consequences of her childish short-sightedness.

Her sudden disappearance during a scheduled appointment would be taken as a show of disrespect by her mother, not to mention the loss of money. The Evil Queen does not take kindly to being slighted. Her punishment will be ample and hearty, Evie knows this, but she's cautiously hopeful her return in time for tonight's appointments will stave off anything too severe. If she can escape this ordeal without any permeant physical damage she'll consider herself lucky.

"Evie, no, you can't go home!" Carlos cries, eyes wide and pleading.

The sound of a bed creaking followed by feet hitting the floor interrupts the conversation. Jay rolls out of bed and strolls into the room wearing only a par of pajama pants and immediately makes his way over to the ice box in search of food.

"Stay. We can all skip school and hang out," Jay chimes in. He grabs an off brand box of cereal and settles down onto the couch next to Mal.

Evie shakes her head at the shirtless boy. "Oh no, I couldn't ask you to do that."

"Trust me, Princess. No one here minds skipping school," Jay says around a mouthful of dry cereal. "Hang out for a while."

"Evie, you can't go back," Mal insists, scrambling to her feet and rounding the couch so that she's facing the other girl.

Evie presses her lips together, her reluctance to disappoint the group after they went out on a limb to help her chipping away at her resolve. "I'll be fine," she tries to assure the others.

She pushes on before any objections can be raised, "Thank you again for letting me crash here for the night. And for the clothes." She pulls at the hem of Jay's much too large t-shirt, which she's still wearing because she'd really rather not walk home in her nightgown. "I'll be sure to get these back to you as soon as I can."

"No!" Carlos says decidedly. "You're here, you're safe, you're not going back there."

Evie forces another smile in an attempt to calm the agitated boy. "I appreciate the hospitality, my body definitely needed the break, but what'd you really think was going to happen?" she asks the three sets of eyes staring back at her. "I move in here permanently and never leave so my mother can't find me? What kind of life is that?"

"What kind of life is being beaten, starved and raped on a regular basis!" Mal demands.

Evie's eyes flash with shock and hurt, her head whirling around to find Mal. "Mine," she growls out boldly.

"Shit—Evie, I'm sorry." Mal is quick to apologize. The impulse is so strong she doesn't even have time to lament the fact that Evie has now managed to coax multiple apologies out of her. Something about Evie's eyes just makes uttering that dreaded 5 letter word so easy for the purple-haired girl.

Mal's not wrong, Evie knows her life is far from ideal but it's _her_ life and she's not going to explain the peculiars of her situation to some girl who, up until last night, was determined to further destroy that life.

"Forget it. I have to go," Evie sighs, her anger leaving just as quickly as it came on.

Mal takes an impulsive step forward, her mind just barely stopping her hand from reaching out to grab onto Evie's arm. She flexes her eager fingers and plasters her arms against sides so she doesn't do anything stupid. "Evie, wait. Please don't go back there."

Mal can count on one hand the number of times she's used the word "please" and meant it, but Evie has a way of making her do and say the unlikely.

"Please stay," Carlos urges, his big dark eyes full of so much hope and earnestness that it physically pains Evie to have to disappoint him. "We'll get you your own bed and whatever else you need."

Evie smiles sadly at the offer. She loves Carlos for wanting this for her, but she knows it's unattainable. Her mother's reach is far too wide to escape.

Jay joins in from his spot on the couch. "Come on, Princess. It's not a castle but you'll be safe here."

"Why do you guys have this place?" Evie asks suddenly. If her ribs weren't currently throbbing in pain, she'd likely cock her hip to one side to express her frustration with being ganged up on by the three of them. But all she can do now is glare and purse her cracked lips.

"To hide when we need a break. It's a hideout," Jay says like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"But you don't live here. You still go home to your parents," Evie points out.

"It's different," Jay mutters, turning his attention back to his cereal.

Dysfunction and abuse are staples of life at home for most Isle kids, but what happens at Evie's castle is vile and perverse and thinking about it makes Jay's skin crawl. He's been angry at his and his friend's mistreatment in the past—-hearing Maleficent berate Mal in public made Jay's jaw tighten and his fists clench, and seeing Carlos come to school with dark bags under his eyes and scratches on his face had Jay seeing red on multiple occasions, and of course, Jay has ached to pick himself up off his father's shop floor and pummel the man who beat him. But their parents are powerful villains, even if only in name now, and no matter how hotly his rage burns at their abuse, Jay knows he'd never be able to take on Maleficent, Cruella or Jafar and be victorious. Not yet anyway.

So he, Mal and Carlos found the hideout some years back and escape to it whenever Jafar is in a particularly foul mood, or when Maleficent's taunts become too much to bear, or when Cruella's nagging drags on with no end in sight. This place has been their refuge for years but Evie's right, they do return home after the bruises heal and the righteous adolescent thirst for revenge subsides.

But the thought of Evie returning to her castle of horrors feels _different_, wrong on a multitude of levels Jay can't begin to understand or explain. He has no thoughtful response or clever comeback to Evie's question, all he has is an undeniable feeling of foreboding in his gut.

"I got my break and I'm thankful but now it's time to go home," Evie says with all the faux confidence and poise she can manage. She pauses to smooth out the wrinkles in Jay's oversized torn-up t-shirt as if it's an evening gown and she's off to a ball. "Mother's not going to be pleased I left and weekends are usually pretty busy," she trails off, eyes finding the floor for a moment. "Plus I'd rather get my punishment over with sooner than later."

"Evie, you can't—" Carlos starts to plead but Mal cuts him off with a gentle plea of her own.

"Please don't, E."

Evie pauses at Mal's use of the old childhood nickname she hasn't heard Mal utter in years. With her lip pulled between her teeth, Evie studies the purple-haired girl thoughtfully, her anguished wretched expression reminding Evie of the little girl who clutched her hand and cowered under a market table as Maleficent blustered and bellowed through the bazar a decade ago.

"Why? Why is it any different for me than it is for you?" Evie demands, her voice growing hoarse with emotion. "I know for a fact your own parents hurt you. I've heard the stories. I've seen the bruises. It's just the way things are around here. So why is it any different for me?"

"It just is," Mal answers softly. She watches Evie worry her lip and can't help but wonder if the cut in the center hurts when Evie pulls it between her teeth—-and would it hurt if Mal grabbed her face between her hands and kissed her.

"Because I'm just some prissy princess wannabe? Because you think I'm so much weaker than you!" Evie cries, wielding an accusing hand and stomping her foot. The sharp movement sends a stab of pain shooting through her side and Evie grits her teeth as tears prick at her eyes—the price she pays for her petulance, she thinks.

"Because I think you're better than me!" Mal shouts back, matching Evie's heightened emotion. Evie staggers back slightly in surprise and Mal takes a breath, stepping forward and softening her expression as she stares directly into Evie's watery eyes. "You always have been, E, even when we were little kids and you stood up to my mother in the market. Evie, you're so much better than this place," Mal professes, reaching out without fear or pretense and grasping Evie's hand in her own. "You don't deserve what happens to you."

Evie falters at the sincerity she hears in Mal's voice, the tension in her body dissipating at the sight of sympathetic green eyes. "Neither do you. Any of you," she whispers with a small sniffle. Her eyes sweep the apartment, finding the concerned faces of Carlos and Jay staring back at her, pleading with her, making her squirm uncomfortably under the weight of their expectations.

"Besides," Evie continues, straightening her shoulders and shaking her tears away. She forces a smile to her lips and hopes the others can't sense the sinking in her chest as she dons her personal armor and peddles untruths in a desperate attempt to remain in control, "My mom cares in her own way. She just wants to help me land my prince and live happily ever after like I've always dreamed." It's been a while since she's tried to sell that particular lie and the words burn at her throat like acid, the taste on her tongue foul and unforgiving.

"Have you actually dreamed about marrying a prince?" Carlos questions. "Or is that your mother's dream?"

The question catches Evie off guard and for a moment she forgets Mal is holding onto her hand until she feels a firm squeeze against her fingers. She lifts her eyes to meet the girl's heated gaze and blinks at the caring expression she finds.

Her head spins as she drinks in the pity on the faces of her companions. That look is hard enough to stomach from Carlos, but now she has to take it from Mal and Jay too. Her cheeks flush with thinly veiled rage and she clamps down the urge to scream. How dare they pry into her life! They have no idea what it takes to live her life; they can't begin to comprehend the parts of herself she's had to tuck away or kill off to survive.

"Come on, Evie, you can make all the excuses for your mother you want, but you don't actually think that evil bitch cares about you, do you?" Mal asks, her eyes turning a deeper shade of green at the mention of the Evil Queen.

Evie glowers at the question. So she tells herself a few lies to get by, smiles when she feels like sobbing, shrouds herself in denial and shuts out the voices crying out to be heard inside her head— it's all part of the twisted game she's been forced to play and she excels at that game. Mal, Jay and Carlos may be more adept at surviving on the streets of the Isle, but they wouldn't last a day in her mother's castle. That's a unique set of skills specific to Evie and Evie alone and she doesn't need pity or saving from people who have no idea what it's like to have to teeter between disillusion and denial just to get by.

"Of course! She's my mother!" Evie insists, yanking her hand from Mal's and crossing her arms over her chest.

Jay tosses his box of cereal aside and turns his body to call out from over the back of the couch. "So Jarfar is my father but that doesn't stop him from treating me like human trash."

"And I'm more of a servant than a son in my mom's eyes," Carlos adds.

Evie shakes her head and brings her fingertips to her temples as she takes a step back from this conversation she can't seem to control. She shouldn't even be here right now—talk like this is no use to her and she'll only suffer further as a result. She refuses to entertain this foolish notion of running away, not when she knows what's at stake. She's not like Mal or the boys, she can't just run from her problems and live off the Isle. Not when her mother has pawns in every corner of the Isle—pawns she gained by offering Evie's body for the taking. If her mother doesn't find her and drag her home herself, those men will and they'll be sure to collect their payment up front. Her mother's castle may be a prison but it's a familiar prison, and Evie knows she'll never truly be free on the Isle.

"It's different. My mother's methods are _unconventional_ perhaps, but her intentions are good. She loves me," Evie persists in her attempt at de-escalation. She's always prided herself on her ability to minimize the damage and forge on in the face of unspeakable horrors, but she can feel her tenuous grasp on the situation loosening. And despite her best attempts to appear calm and self-assured, her voice wavers and chills rush through her body at the thought—-she's not that naive, she knows the truth, but gods, how she wishes her mother did love her.

"Evie, she sends men to your room to rape you."

Evie bristles at Mal's blunt words. She's used to Carlos's delicate dancing around the truth, not Mal's brash assertions.

"To train me," Evie corrects stiffly. "For when I marry a prince. So I'll know how to please my future husband." Her cheeks burn with shame at the indecent explanation. She knows her reasoning is flimsy at best and her argument is rapidly falling apart, but she's been in denial of the truth for so long now and she has no intention of facing reality in front of Mal or Jay.

"Aren't princesses supposed to be pure?" Jay asks, one eye cocked as he leans over the sofa to stare in Evie's direction.

Evie draws back as if she's been slapped and Carlos nearly lunges at the boy for his insensitivity.

"Jay! What the hell, man?"

"What do you think your precious prince will think when he finds out you've been sold to half the men on the Isle?" Jay continues with a scowl, paying no mind to Carlos's admonishment.

Evie's not used to seeing the boy look so cross and she can't help but shrink back a bit when he raises his voice and points an indignant finger at her. Her mouth drops open as she flounders for a comeback but Jay continues his tirade before she can form a single coherent word.

"No! Evie this is bullshit! Your mother doesn't love you! No one who loves you can do that to you!" he rages.

"You want to know what makes you different from the rest of us?" Mal jumps in, drawing Evie's attention back to her. "We know our parents don't give a shit about us...but you actually think that witch loves you and that's what makes it so much worse."

"She just wants me to be prepared!" Evie insists, her head swimming from the intense exchange. That's what her mother had told her years ago when she brought the first of many men to her doorway.

_It pays to be prepared, child. Practice makes perfect. _

_So you'll know what men really want. _

_Experience is the best teacher, my dear. _

Evie has desperately wanted to believe her mother had a reason for subjecting her to such pain, but she didn't believe it then and she doesn't believe it now. But Jay is just so angry and Mal's eyes are practically sparkling with concern and Carlos looks like he's about to cry—and what else is there to say? How is she supposed to explain what goes on behind her castle walls to them when she still can't comprehend it herself.

"She wants to hurt you! Those men aren't there to prepare you! They're there to use you to get off in exchange for a few bucks and whatever dumb trinkets your mother desires! She's selling you to them for her own selfish gains and if you think that's love then you're as stupid as you look!" Mal cries, her fists balled at her sides as she huffs and glares at a stunned Evie.

"That's enough!" Carlos cuts in. "Just stop. Leave her alone."

Evie stares down at her feet, grateful for Carlos's interference but too worn down to do anything other than mutter a quiet "I'm going to go now" before heading towards the door.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: Apologies for the delay, I've fallen behind in updating. The next chapter will be up soon. Please let me know what you think. Thank you. **

* * *

"Wait!" Mal calls before Evie can make her exit from the hideout.

Evie stops at Mal's beckoning, turning back with a wary expression. She doesn't want to argue her point any further, she just wants to get the inevitable over with.

"You didn't get to take a bath," Mal blurts out, desperate for any reason to keep Evie from leaving.

Evie blinks back at her slowly, her lingering gaze causing Mal to squirm in her spot. Her cheeks feel warm again and Mal scratches at the back of her neck with fidgety fingers as she searches for more words. "The water for the tub—-last night," she tries to explain, vaguely aware she's not making much sense. "The boys can bring the water up from outside to boil now so you can wash up. It shouldn't take long."

It takes a moment for Evie to catch on to Mal's proposal, but when it does finally click in her mind, she finds herself shaking her head fondly at the other girl. "Oh. That's not necessary. I'll wash up at home."

"Well, at least let someone wrap your ribs before you go," Mal offers. "I noticed you wincing when you move. We have bandages—lots of them."

"We tend to get into fights," Jay adds helpfully from across the room.

Evie smiles in spite of the tense situation—there's something oddly endearing about being offered comfort from a scowling Mal. "I'm fine, really."

Mal frowns, unimpressed with Evie's gentle but resounding refusal of her help.

"Come on, I'll walk you home," Carlos cuts in, his voice sounding every bit as defeated as Mal currently looks. He knows he can't change Evie's mind and he's pretty pissed about it, but he's not going to let her walk the seedy streets of the Isle alone.

"I'm coming too," Mal declares.

"Count me in," Jay says, jumping up from the couch as he brushes loose cereal from his lap. "Looks like you got yourself your own personal protective detail, Princess."

"Oh-that's really quite unnecessary," Evie insists, surprised and overwhelmed by the offer. "I'm perfectly capable of walking home alone."

Mal shrugs, undeterred. "Yeah, well, I need to stretch my legs."

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Mal," Evie protests gently.

"We don't have to talk. I'll walk behind you and not say a word."

"You just want to stare at her ass," Jay quips with a snake-like grin, coaxing a small chuckle from a stoic Carlos.

Mal whirls around to slap at the boy's bicep, face red and teeth clenched. "Shut the fuck up, Jay!"

Evie clears her throat, choosing to ignore the implications of Jay's remark because she's really not in a place to mentally process the way the boy's crass comment about Mal's interest in her made her stomach dip in a funny way.

"Mal, as you may remember, my mother is not exactly fond of your mother. And that feeling has only grown stronger since I've started going to school. If she sees me with you, she will not be pleased."

Mal deflates instantly; she's seen what the Evil Queen is capable of when she's not pleased and she has no desire to provoke a repeat performance from that vile old bitch at Evie's expense. "Fine. Carlos will take you," she concedes.

"We'll be fine," Evie says, grasping Mal's hand in her own and offering a reassuring squeeze.

Mal gives a sulky murmur of a response, unimpressed with the girl's hollow assurances and irritated by her own inability to change Evie's mind.

Evie steps back with a stilted nod that is meant to be affirming but the uneasy look on her face fails to convey any real confidence in her decision.

"When do you think you'll be back in school?" Mal asks after a tension-filled beat.

Evie shakes her head and lowers her head shyly. "Mother won't let me be seen in public until the bruises are faded enough to cover with makeup, so probably not for a while."

"What about food?"

"Food?"

"You need to eat," Mal insists. Evie had been so weak when they reached her last night and Mal can't stand the thought of the girl going without food for even longer.

Mal turns to pick up Carlos's discarded backpack from the floor, which still contains the snacks they had procured at school the day before, and walks towards the hideout's stash of food. Holding the bag open, she sweeps half a loaf of bread, fruit in various stages of rot, and some cereal into the sack, which she then holds out towards Evie. "Here, take this. Stash it in your room so you'll have something to eat for the next few days."

Evie nods once again and accepts the bag, perplexed but appreciative. "Thank you."

"You didn't have breakfast!" Mal exclaims as if suddenly struck by the thought. "You should eat something now!"

"I'm really okay, Mal," Evie attempts to reason.

Mal digs through the bag in Evie's arms and pulls out an apple. "Here at least have an apple before you go."

Evie scrunches her nose, a look Mal shouldn't find adorable considering the circumstances but absolutely does. "I'm sorry. I don't care for apples."

"Since when? They were your favorite." Mal asks, remembering how she used to swipe the fruit from the market stalls to give to Evie whenever they met as kids. "Oh I have jam! You can have some bread and jam."

"Mal, you don't need—"

"Just eat the damn jam so she'll shut up," Jay calls out, quickly growing tired of the awkward dance of wills the girls appear to be engaged in. He disappears to his corner of the hideout in search of a shirt, muttering under his breath about Mal's lack of game.

Evie halts her protest and nods dutifully, taking a seat on the sofa and placing the backpack on the floor between her legs. She supposes it couldn't hurt to humor Mal in her quest to feed her, even if food is the last thing on her mind and the thought of what awaits her at home has her stomach feeling like it's filled with thick tacky sludge.

Carlos settles onto a stool by the door; Evie can feel his eyes on her but she's not ready to look at him and see the disappointment on his face so she fiddles with her fingers instead.

Mal returns a few moments later with a small mason jar filled about half-way with purple jam. It's her favorite and not exactly easy to come by on the Isle so she wouldn't normally share from her own personal stash but this is different—Evie needs to eat something and no one can turn down jam.

Mal pulls her knife from her boot and Evie watches somewhat horrified but also somewhat in awe as the purple-haired girl uses the blade to spread a thick layer of jam onto a piece of bread.

"Here."

Evie can't help but smile and the offered food. "You and your jam," she laughs softly, recalling young Mal's affinity for the sweet treat. Her stomach is still a bit queasy from the prolonged lack of food but Mal is watching her with eager eyes and she doesn't have the heart to disappoint the girl. She takes a small bite and tries to get comfortable on the lumpy couch.

"Thank you again for giving up your bed last night. I can't imagine sleeping on this sofa to be very comfortable."

"It's cool," Mal shrugs. She'd sleep on the stupid couch forever if Evie would agree to stay at the hideout. "You sure you want to go home?"

"__Want __isn't the word I'd use," Evie says carefully. "But I do need to get home. It's for the best, trust me."

Mal slumps down on the opposite end of the sofa, disappointment tugging at the corners of her mouth. "You can come back here, you know. When you need a break or whatever."

"Thank you," Evie says, her voice soft and sincere. "I just might take you up on that offer."

A heavy silence settles between the pair as Evie eats her jam-covered bread slowly with Mal occasionally sneaking covert glances in her direction. Once finished, Evie delicately brushes the crumbs from her hands and stands to bid Mal and Jay farewell before lifting the backpack to her shoulder and following a stone-faced Carlos out of the hideout.

The door clanks shut behind the pair and Mal springs from the couch with a low growl, stalking across the floor and kicking at a pile of disregarded spray-paint cans in the corner.

Jay arches an eyebrow at the girl's pouting but lets it slide. He knows better than to poke the proverbial dragon when she's in a mood.

"We're still skipping school though, right?" he asks instead.

Mal just grunts and stalks off towards her bed.

* * *

Carlos pauses at the end of the alley that houses his crew's hideout and peeks his head around the worn cobblestone wall. Satisfied that no one has spotted them leaving their secret sanctuary, he motions for Evie to follow and she prances daintily behind him.

The morning air is thick with fog and off in the distance, Carlos can hear the clamoring of disgruntled street merchants as they hastily set up shop in the market square. School doesn't start for another couple of hours and Carlos does his best to blend in with the early risers and not draw too much attention to himself and the barefoot blue-haired girl in baggy boys' pajamas walking beside him.

Evie stays close but still won't look at him, instead, her gaze is focused outward as her eyes take stock of her unfamiliar surroundings. Carlos suspects she's trying to avoid an argument but he's struggling to hold his tongue, the reality of leaving the safety of the hideout testing his resolve.

Carlos can't believe he's actually walking Evie back towards The Castle Across The Way. After last night's dramatic escape, Evie will be right back under her mother's thumb and at the mercy of the countless vile men who visit her room. He had thought he'd finally succeeded in taking Evie away from that awful place, only to be returning her hours later at her own insistence. And he's far from happy about it.

"I don't understand why you won't leave!" he cries out when they make it past a pack of pirates stumbling out of the Ale House after a night of heavy drinking and debauchery. The group is loud and boisterous and Carlos glares at the bearded one who winks and blows Evie a kiss.

"I can't stay. She'll find me and it'll only be worse. You saw what happened last time I tried to run," Evie says, drawing herself a bit closer to Carlos as the pirates' catcalls echo down the street.

Carlos shudders at the memory of coming across Evie's battered body on the cold forest floor following their last attempt at an escape. "Then use the sleeping potion to knock her out. She can't book you appointments if she's passed out."

Evie shakes her head. "It won't work on her. My mother's a sorceress who has been mixing potions her whole life. A little lavender and valerian root isn't going to do much of anything to her."

"Then use it on the men when they come into your room," Carlos suggests.

"That won't work either," she says with another shake of her head.

Carlos walks ahead, pushing the curls from his eyes and huffing at Evie's stubborn protest. "Why not? It's like you're looking for excuses __not __to help yourself. Don't you want it to stop?"

"Of course I do!" Evie insists. She picks up her pace to match Carlos's long angry strides, her bare feet scraping against the uneven pavement as she pads behind him.

"Well, you don't act like it," Carlos mutters in frustration. "If I didn't know any better I'd think you like it."

Evie gasps as if he'd struck her, the sound just loud enough for Carlos to make out over the early morning rumblings of the Isle. He comes to a stop at once, words of apology already on his tongue when he feels Evie's hand on his elbow spinning him to face furious honey-colored eyes.

"How dare you!" Evie cries. "You have no idea what it's like to have your body rented out by the hour! To be used night after night by the highest bidder!"

There are tears in her eyes and her voice is pitched higher than Carlos has ever heard it, like it might crack at any moment. Carlos can only bow his head with regret for the harsh words he spat out in a moment of frustration. He feels absolutely terrible for pushing his friend to tears, and yet the fire in Evie's strained voice is a welcomed sound. Evie has been burying her pain and emotions under bright smiles and soft words for as long as he's known her, but if anyone deserves to get angry about their life circumstances it's Evie. Hell, he's plenty angry on her behalf.

"I'm sorry." Carlos sighs his apology and buries his hands in his pockets. "I just want to help you the way you help me—with my chores, with my mom, my clothes."

And just as quickly as it came on, Evie's anger is gone with a deep shaky breath. And then she's looking at Carlos with her usual affection, her eyes once again radiating warmth in the damp gray morning. "C, you do help me. We look after each other, it's what we do."

"I feel like I'm letting you down," Carlos admits, shame clawing at his chest. He's known Evie's secret for years and he hasn't been able to offer her anything more than a shoulder to cry on. Mal had had Evie swept up in Jay's arms and carried away from that hell-hole within minutes. "Please Evie, can't you just try the potion."

Evie shakes her head softly, offering Carlos a sad smile. "There's only so much of the herbs and roots I can find in the forest. The men who—" she trails off, needing to look away from Carlos's big pleading eyes at the thought of the men who visit her room. Carlos gives her a few moments before gently touching her forearm and drawing her attention back to him. Evie forces herself to refocus and continues, "The men weigh more than your mother and would require a larger dose. I don't have enough of the ingredients to go around and I'd rather you have it. Your mom is so hard on you. You deserve a break."

Carlos is quick to protest, earnest in his argument that his mother's nagging or even the occasional scratch Cruella leaves on his cheek is nothing compared to what Evie is subjected to. Evie cuts him off with a desperate plea to __stop, please. __The past 12 hours had been harrowing enough, she tells him, and she's not ready for any more change.

It's not what Carlos wants to hear, not when he's been fantasizing about saving Evie from her mother's clutches for years, but Evie looks __so __utterly worn down, and he's afraid of what might happen if he pushes too hard when she's not ready. And though the very last thing Carlos wants to do right now is deliver Evie back into the arms of her abusive mother, he continues to lead the way because at least he can guarantee her safety for a precious few more minutes.

"You sure about this?" Carlos asks one last time when they reach the gates of The Castle Across The Way—Carlos's deliberately languid footsteps no longer able to delay the inevitable.

Evie nods, tightlipped and stiff in the early morning shadow of the imposing castle. "I can't avoid home forever."

"I really wish you'd reconsider staying at the hideout. We can keep you safe," Carlos tells her.

"I can't ask that of you. It's too dangerous. I'll be fine." She tries to smile for him but it's a pitiful attempt and her wobbling lip and uneasy expression fail convey any sense of assuredness she may have been going for. "Do you want your bag back?" she asks after a moment, sliding the backpack from her shoulder and holding it out towards the boy.

Carlos shakes his head. "No. Keep it or Mal will kill me."

The mention of Mal earns a small but genuine smile from Evie's lips and she chuckles softly as she hoists the snack-filled backpack over her shoulder once again.

Carlos moves forward like he wants to give her a hug, only to pull back a moment later and drop his arms awkwardly at his side. Evie leans in and wraps her arms around him instead; the embrace loose so she doesn't bother her bruises but Carlos relaxes into it and whispers a soft "__I'll see you soon__" against her hair.

Evie pulls back with wet eyes and sorrowful expression. "I'm sorry, Carlos, I'm just not ready yet."

* * *

By mid-afternoon, Mal is tired of pacing the floors of the hideout—and of Jay's lame jokes about her burning a hole in the old wood planks. She had been holding out hope that Evie would reconsider and return, that perhaps Carlos could convince the girl to turn around before they reached her castle. But as the hours ticked on, Mal was forced to accept the bitter truth—Evie wasn't coming back.

Carlos doesn't come back either, no doubt feeling just as miserable and helpless about the situation as Mal does. Mal doesn't blame him for taking some time to himself to sulk. Jay had made a valiant effort of distracting her at first, but after the third or fourth "fuck off" she muttered in his direction he had sighed and shuffled back towards his bed with a sympathetic _"___don't worry, she'll be alright"__. The statement lacked his usual cockiness and Mal suspects he doesn't truly believe his own platitude.

Without Jay's affable but annoying rambling, an eerie quiet settles over the hideout. It's tense and suffocating and Mal decides she has to get out of there right away.

* * *

The latch on the front gate of Bargain Castle has been broken since Mal was a toddler and it clangs uselessly against the heavy iron when she pushes the gate open. There was a time when Mal resented the dilapidated state her mother had allowed their home to fall into, back when she imagined Evie living in a stately royal tower on the other side of the Isle. But now that she knows Evie's castle is more of a prison than a palace, Mal can't bring herself to be bothered by the furnishings her mother had let fall apart or the appliances she had allowed to grow old and obsolete from lack of use.

Maleficent has always maintained that their stay on the Isle would be temporary and therefore there was no need to learn how to ignite the stove or tend to the garden or know anything at all about the inner-workings of the castle they occupied. But it's been sixteen years and Mal's not a little girl who blindly believes her mother's fantasies anymore, she knows the Isle is her home.

"Mom?" Mal calls out, tracking the faint sounds of her mother's mutterings to the kitchen.

There her mother, the mistress of all evil, sits at the kitchen table peering intently into the slots of a rust-covered toaster. "What is it, Mal?! Can't you see I'm busy!" Maleficent rattles the toaster in her hands, eyes bulging as she pushes experimentally at the lever on the side. "Now where do you put the damn letters?"

"It's a toaster, mom. It heats up bread," Mal explains with a tired sigh.

Maleficent rolls her eyes, letting the appliance fall from her hands and crash loudly down on the table. "Bread? How useless!"

Mal huffs, annoyed but too tired to muster a full eye roll of her own. "I wanted to ask you something," she says instead.

"And what makes you think I care about what you want?" Maleficent replies, standing from the table and brushing the toaster crumbs from her cloak.

Well-accustomed to her mother's dismissive tone, Mal presses on. "It's about the Evil Queen's daughter, Evie."

Maleficent moves about the kitchen, busying herself with the inspection of various utensils and cutlery. "Why are you talking to be about that vain simpering witch and her brat?"

"Evie started school at Dragon Hall a couple of weeks ago." Mal drops the statement as a sort of test, eyes watching for her mother's reaction as she slips into the chair her mother had just vacated.

"So I've heard," Maleficent drawls and Mal detects a hint of something knowing in her mother's voice.

"Well, it's just that I know you banished her and her mother to their castle for not inviting us to her birthday party years ago," Mal explains, somewhat cautious in her telling. Any mention of the Evil Queen tended to kick up her mother's decade's old grudge against the witch and Mal wants to avoid any long-winded spiels about sorcery being the fool's version of villainy. She's here on a mission, not to hear her mother's inane ramblings on the hierarchy of evil.

Maleficent whirls around to face her daughter with a dramatic flourish of her cloak. "Can you believe that brainless twit? Not inviting Maleficent to a party?! The audacity!"

"Yeah, well, what changed?"

"Pardon?" Maleficent beckons with a wicked smirk.

"Evie said she had permission to attend school. That you granted it yourself." Mal drums her fingers against the old oak table and tries to keep her voice even so that her mother won't suspect her of caring. Her mother could smell human emotion a mile away and she'd never let Mal get away with openly expressing such a vile thing in her home. But Mal can't help the way her chest tightens and her stomach turns every time Evie's name passes her lips.

"I did," Maleficent confirms with a confident nod of her head. "That girl and her wretched mother know better than to do anything on this isle without my permission!"

"Yes, but why did you give her permission?" Mal knows she's walking a fine line interrogating her mother like this, but she needs to know as much about Evie as possible. And most importantly, she needs to know if her mother can be of use in getting Evie away from the Evil Queen for good. Mal had seen __something __in Evie's eyes the afternoon she revealed it was Maleficent who had been the one to grant her permission to attend school. She hadn't been able to place the distant look in the girl's eye at the time, but now Mal can't help but wonder if her mother knows more about Evie's situation than she's let on.

Maleficent arches an eyebrow, a sly smirk playing on her lips as if she's surprised by her daughter's audacious interrogation. "Are you questioning my decisions, dear?"

"No—I mean, I think you made the right call," Mal stammers slightly, cursing herself for the smallest crack in her composure.

Maleficent lets out a loud bark of laughter. "Thanks for the approval, kid."

"I just don't understand why—after all this time—you changed your mind," Mal muses. Mercy has never been her mother's strong point but perhaps she had changed her mind about the banishment in an attempt to give Evie a few hours respite.

"You don't need to understand it. I don't explain myself to insolent little half-breeds," her mother waves her off with yet another insult. __Half-breed __has long been a favorite of her mother's and the familiar jab no longer packs a punch for Mal.

"Was it because of her mother?" Mal questions, intent on getting some answers. "'Cause of what she makes Evie—what she allows to be done to her?"

"What do you know about that?" Maleficent questions, interest apparently piqued.

Mal shrugs, trying to mask her growing affection for the girl in question with cool disinterest. "Enough."

Maleficent regards her daughter knowingly, sealing her lips and keeping her eyes trained on the girl as she takes the time to fill a mug with water from the sink. Her slow calculated movements seem exaggerated in Mal's frenzied racing mind. Mal watches, heart thumping against her chest, as her mother takes a single deliberate sip before disregarding the mug in the basin behind her with a disgusted grimace. Sometimes the water in their castle ran brown—yet another house-hold problem her mother didn't concern herself with.

"I caught word of Claude Frollo and Captain Hook bragging about their dalliance with the girl at the behest of her mother," Maleficent finally begins to explain. "It was disgusting! Turning a child into a harlot for profit! That's not villainy, that's perversion! I won't have it on my Isle!" she spits, her usual icy tone turning to a hot fiery flame. "And if that fool thinks she can use her daughter to circumvent my punishment, well she has another thing coming! I ordered the witch to cease her operation at once and put the girl in school with the rest of you fledgling disappointments."

Despite having her suspicions, hearing her mother confirm that she had willingly forgone a decade's long grudge and indeed committed an act of mercy is more than a bit unnerving for Mal. She imagines this must be what it feels like when the little goody-goods in Auradon witness their perfect parents doing something wrong. "What if the Evil Queen didn't stop? What if it were still going on?"

"Excuse me? Are you saying that witch disobeyed a direct order from me?" Maleficent demands, eyes glowing in the dim afternoon light.

"No, I mean, I don't know," Mal mutters. "But if she did, what would you do?"

"I'd rather see the girl __dead__ than used as a pawn by the Evil Queen to defy me!" Maleficent roars, slamming her fists against the table and leaning in towards Mal with a wild glint in her eyes. "You tell me, Mal, you understand? You tell me if the Evil Queen is openly defying your mother!"

"Never mind then," Mal mumbles, getting up from the table and heading towards her room. Guess she'll have to help Evie herself. After all, there's only so much grace she can expect from her mother.


	14. Chapter 14

"Evie, dear, wash up and come down to dinner!"

At her mother's beckoning, Evie begins to ease herself off her bed with the slightest of grimaces. The worn springs in her mattress fill the room with a chorus of creaks and groans as Evie rises to move through the shadows the setting sun has cast throughout her dusky bedroom. Her ribs are feeling less sore today and she can manage the pain if she avoids moving too quickly or too suddenly, but there's still an ache that reverberates deep within her chest with every step. Evie's not so sure it's entirely physical, but she grits her teeth and pushes through the dull pain, willing her stilted steps into a more graceful stride befitting of a princess.

Evie stops before the doorway to tug at the ends of her blouse and smooth out the pleats in her skirt. She's been avoiding the floor-length mirror that looms threateningly in the corner of her bedroom, unwilling to see the dark garish marks her mother's callous cruelty has left on her face. She can only hope her clothing isn't too wrinkled for her mother's liking. She considers putting on makeup before heading down, her years of forced practice providing the confidence that she could do so blindly if need be. But her mother won't be able to access the progression of her healing bruises if they're covered, so she decides to forgo her usual beauty routine and focus on her hair instead. She uses her fingers to tease some volume into the hair at the crown of her head and picks up her silver-handled hairbrush from her vanity to comb out the ends of her tresses.

She's unsure of what might await her at dinner, but she knows enough not to keep her mother waiting, so with one last shaky exhale, she swings her bedroom door open and steps out into the hallway.

Seven days have passed since her little lapse in judgment but no harm has come to her at the hands of her mother. Not yet at least. But Evie is certain the dread that starts low in her belly each morning and blooms warm throughout her body as she spends her days staring up at the ceiling of her bedroom—mapping out the same water-stains and cracks in the plaster she's forced to focus on when she's on her back under the weight of a man with enough money to purchase an hour of her time—is worse than any physical punishment her mother could have dolled out upon her return home.

It's been a week of straining to hear the approach of phantom footsteps outside her bedroom door, a week of anxiously chewing her fingernails till nothing remains of them but gross unsightly stubs and then meticulously filing them down to be smooth and even so that her mother won't have one more thing to punish her for. A week of staying holed up in her room waiting for the other shoe to drop while she wonders if Mal would let her stay if she showed up at the hideout and confessed her regret over leaving. Or will Mal return to tormenting her now that Evie had so stubbornly scorned her help? The thought alone makes Evie's stomach hurt. She doesn't want to think about returning to the way things were with Mal, not when she has let herself believe that a warm bed for the night and a jar of jam in the morning might mean her former childhood friend might actually care about her again.

But Evie has more pressing issues to worry about at the moment. Her mother's lack of response is driving Evie mad and there's a small gnawing voice inside her head that wants to grab the Evil Queen by the shoulders and shake her senseless, demand she put a stop to this twisted game and just get the punishment over with.

When she had returned to her castle that morning, Evie had expected to be greeted by her mother's sharp tongue and angry hands, to be made to work off her transgression with as many men as her mother could procure in the time she felt fit to keep Evie locked away for.

Instead, her mother had been distant and cold upon her return, barely sparing her daughter a word. In a truly pathetic display of desperation Evie wishes she could erase from her mind, she had fallen at her mother's feet as soon as she crossed the castle's threshold that fateful morning, pleading for mercy and crying for forgiveness. It was boorish and graceless, but Evie was well-acquainted with the realities of her mother's vindictiveness and she was eager to avoid the worst of it.

But the Evil Queen had simply looked down at her with disdain, shrugging her daughter's hands from her cloak and stalking away in disgust. Evie had eventually picked herself up off the cold marble floor and locked herself away in her room to await her comeuppance.

Evie's not naive enough to mistake her mother's calculated indifference as any sort of mercy. Surely her mother is playing at __something__, even if Evie is unaware of what that something is. The Evil Queen would never let her daughter get away with such a blatant act of defiance.

For the first two days, her mother had ignored her existence as Evie waited anxiously behind her bedroom door for punishment that never came.

On the third day, Evie poked her head out of her room to discover her mother had left a plate of fruit in front of her door. There were no apples but Evie was too terrified to take a single bite. Her mother had poisoned one daughter, what was keeping her from poisoning another?

On the fifth day, the stash of food Mal had insisted Evie take from the hideout was completely depleted and her stomach was starting to growl. She checked outside her door that evening to find a plate of cheese and bread. As she stood outside her door eying the food suspiciously and wondering if her relentlessly mounting dread had made her delirious, her mother appeared at the end of the hallway like some sort of dark apparition.

"Do you really think I'd poison my own daughter?" The Evil Queen scoffed, cloak floating ominously behind her as she glided down the hallway towards her daughter's door. Her brow was arched with amusement but her voice dripped with biting scorn that sent shivers down Evie's spine.

With her eyes trained on her daughter and a smirk across her face, the Evil Queen bent ever so gracefully to pick up a piece of bread from the plate on the floor. Slowly the steely-eyed sorceress took a bite of the bread, Evie watching with bated breath as her mother swallowed the morsel of food and bared her teeth in a smile that was much too wide to be regarded as anything less than sinister.

"Oh, my dear girl," the Evil Queen sang sweetly, her sugar-coated voice a sharp contrast to the fire burning behind her eyes. Taking a step towards her daughter, the once-powerful witch lifted a hand to gently push loose strands of blue from Evie's eyes.

Evie tensed under her mother's deceptively soft touch, her breath catching in her throat as she forced herself to clamp down the paralyzing rush of fear coursing through her body and not look away from her mother's intense gaze.

"My dear, dear girl," her mother repeated, faux sweetness quickly giving way to deep-seated wickedness as her face darkened suddenly. Evie swallowed her gasp as her mother dragged two sharpened fingernails across her cheek till the Evil Queen was gripping Evie's chin firmly between her fingers.

"Poison is far too peaceful a punishment for such wanton insolence. I have something __much __more arduous planned for my little girl," the Evil Queen hissed. She released Evie from her grasp with a vicious sneer before tapping a single finger against the girl's chin. "Be patient, my dear. And trust me, when I'm through with you, you'll never know peace again."

Despite her best efforts, Evie couldn't suppress the broken whimper that fell from her lips at her mother's chilling threat.

"Besides," the Evil Queen smirked, delighting in her daughter's palpable terror, "you're no use to me dead."

Evie watched her mother walk away, her entire body shaking with adrenaline and fear. She wished her mother would just get it over with and put her out of her misery. Her stomach churned with dread, the anticipation of the horrors that await her eating away at her insides as if she'd swallowed battery acid for breakfast.

__Why haven't you punished me yet! I broke the rules! I ran away! I lost you money!__ That unrelenting voice inside her yearns to shout at her mother's retreating form. __Punish me! Be done with it already! Punish me!__

And now on the seventh night, it's a cheerful invitation to dinner her mother uses to cruelly toy with her. She feels so pathetic and worn down, so ashamed to be craving the depraved punishment her mother bestows on her, so defeated by the simple act of __waiting.__

Dinner is uneventful and that's probably the worst outcome Evie could have hoped for. Another restless night of wondering when her mother will finally act upon her retribution. Evie's not sure she can withstand much more of this. She longs for the peace she found sleeping in Mal's bed, the comfort of being carried away by Jay's arms, the love of being carefully tended to by Carlos's gentle hands.

Evie imagines what life would be like if she had chose to stay at the hideout. Had she lost her chance when she refused Mal's plea to stay and so stubbornly insisted on returning home? Would Jay and Carlos be squabbling while she and Mal share the last of Mal's jam? Would the four of them be sitting down to dinner of crackers and canned beans? She lets herself get lost in a daydream of domesticity, a longing for a safe place to stay with simple pleasures and people who won't hurt her.

Later that night as she lies in bed, once again staring at the ceiling, she decides she needs to see Carlos. If she's going to live in a constant state of fear and anxiety she might as well take the risk of sneaking out to see her friend.

* * *

Mal steps back to take in the fresh coat of black paint covering the dull aluminum of the locker before her. She had spray-painted over her vulgar graffitied insult days ago but something about the expanse of untouched blackness adorning Evie's locker seems out of place. Sure that awful word is gone, but the color is far too dim, the emptiness much too ordinary. Mal tilts her head in thought, her mind conjuring up an image much more befitting of a locker belonging to someone like Evie than an empty black slate. Her lips twist with the faintest of smiles at the idea and her fingers tap eagerly against her side in anticipation.

She wishes she could get more excited about her plan, but she's a bit on edge. It's been over a week since Evie spent the night at the hideout and still no sign of her return. Mal knows injuries like Evie's need time to heal but her inability to confirm that Evie is okay has Mal crawling out of her skin and wanting to shove anyone who pisses her off into a locker head-first. Jay has had to break up at least three fights between her and random annoying classmates this week.

"Will you relax. She's not going to be in today," Jay sighs from his spot on the floor. He's currently slumped against the row of lockers opposite Evie's, his beanie pulled low over his eyes so that he can at least pretend he's still asleep.

"You don't know that. It's been a week," Mal grumbles in response. __Eight days to be precise, she thinks.__

Jay tugs the corner of his beanie up to squint at Mal with a disbelieving eye. "Did we really need to be here at the ass crack of dawn? The teachers aren't even in yet."

"I just want to see if Evie's here before homeroom," Mal says, somewhat sheepishly. Jay just smirks in that annoying cocky way of his and Mal turns away with a glare. So what if she's come into school early every morning this past week just in case Evie shows up? Evie is hurt, she'll need help getting around and Mal would need to ward off any potential antagonists so that Evie won't have any additional stress to worry about. Besides, Jay doesn't know shit.

"Why am I here then?" Jay wonders.

"I have no idea. You just show up," Mal shrugs as she roots through the various cans of spray paint in her messenger bag.

Jay yawns and pulls his beanie back down, stretching his legs out and mumbling a soft "good night" as he lets his head fall back against the lockers once again. Mal rolls her eyes at the boy before approaching Evie's locker with a can of royal blue spray-paint in hand, eager to fill her make-shift canvass with her latest design.

* * *

Carlos starts his morning like most others, awake before the sun to complete his lengthy list of chores—perhaps a little more hastily than usual. Once finished, he slips out of Hell Hall before Cruella can complain about dust on the mantle or fingerprints on her decorative candlesticks and scurries off into the thick of the forest that separates his house from Evie's.

He is quick but cautious in his travels, careful not to draw the attention of his mother of her henchmen as he ducks under branches and leaps over stones to reach his destination.

For the past week, Carlos has watched the sun come up from his perch in his and Evie's favorite oak tree each morning. It's the perfect spot for taking in the dreamy purple and orange hues that peak through the sky to greet the isle at dawn before the morning fog clears and rolling clouds cast a dim grayish haze over the place Carlos calls home.

This particular tree also happens to offer a pretty good view of The Castle Across the Way. So Carlos has climbed into that tree each morning for the past seven mornings and waited, eyes peering through the shadows and the branches in hopes of spotting some sort of sign from his best friend.

Carlos has fatefully made the trip every day since he walked Evie home from the hideout, but thus far his efforts have been in vain. He knows if Evie had the chance, she'd come to meet him. That has always been their agreement—the old oak tree at dawn. Their spot. Their time. Never more than a few days without contact when possible.

So seven days without so much as a glimpse of Evie's blue hair in her tower's window has Carlos on edge. And while he knows __why__ Evie is locked away this time around, it doesn't make the wait to hear from her any less nerve-wracking. So on this eighth day, he uses the quiet of his walk through the woods to give serious consideration to sneaking into Evie's bedroom yet again—but then he sees her.

* * *

Carlos arrives at school late. Classes started almost two hours ago and his second-period class is surely halfway through by now but he decides not to blow it off completely and attend. Weird Sciences is his favorite class after-all and today's lesson is on electromagnetic energy, which could be beneficial to his plan.

Carlos attempts to slip inside the classroom undetected but of course that idiot Rick Radcliffe is sitting in the back row and kicks out his foot as Carlos passes, sending him stumbling into the closets and creating quite the commotion. Carlos's face burns bright when the other students greet his fumbling entrance with raucous laughter and all he can manage is a glare in Rick's direction. The teacher calls for quiet and Carlos takes his seat with his cheeks tinted pink.

Normally, Carlos wouldn't be too concerned about being late to class but Yen Sin isn't like other teachers at Dragon Hall. He actually cares about his students and is as much of a mentor figure as any adult on the Isle can be. Carlos hates to disappoint the wise old wizard who has encouraged his love of science since his start at Dragon Hall, but he doesn't regret being late.

When the lesson is over and Carlos exits his Weird Sciences class, he finds an anxious Mal waiting for him in the hallway. She barely gives him time to zip up his backpack before she's striding up to him with a determined look in her eye. Jay is there too, of course, but he lacks Mal's weird manic energy and simply greets Carlos with a nod and a cool "what's up?".

"Carlos, any word from Evie?" Mal says in way of greeting, and it's less of a question than it is a plea.

Carlos briefly considers lying to spare Mal but selfishly decides to share his distress. "I saw her this morning."

Mal perks up at Carlos's answer. "You did?"

"Yeah, at our spot in the woods," Carlos admits. He should probably sound more enthused, more hopeful at finding Evie relatively unscathed after a week of radio silence, but despite the rush of relief at finally seeing his oldest friend, the early morning encounter left him reeling.

"Is she ok? Is she hurt? How did she look?" Mal demands.

"Fine, physically," Carlos says. He doesn't quite know how to articulate the feeling of unease that settled in the pit of his stomach at the sight of Evie's vacant expression or the chills that shot up his spine at the sound of her broken desperate voice. And he doesn't think Mal would react very well no matter how eloquently he states it. "Her bruises are healing. I didn't notice any new ones," he offers instead.

Carlos thinks back to his early morning run-in with Evie, how he had been both relieved and terrified when he reached the familiar clearing that served as their secret spot and found her curled up against a tree. He had been sick with worry as he approached her crumbled body, fearing the worst.

_"___Eves?" he called out as he neared, eyes scanning what he could see of her body for obvious signs of additional injury.__

__Evie stirred slowly, unwrapping her arms from her torso and stretching out her legs languidly. She lifted her head to blink at Carlos as if to clear an invisible film from her eyes.__

_"___C, is that you?"__

_"___Evie! You're here!" Carlos rushed forward, falling on his knees in the dirt in front of the girl. He cupped her cheek in his hand, surprised at how cold her skin felt against his fingers, and carefully searched her face. Finding no obvious injury, he released a shaky sigh of relief and let his head fall gently against Evie's forehead. She was cold and tired but didn't appear to be physically hurt.__

_"___I'm here," Evie chuckled, offering her friend a weak teary-eyed smile. Her hands quickly found purchase in the worn leather of his jacket, the jacket she had painstakingly made for him three years ago after she noticed he didn't have one of his own. Evie tugged urgently at Carlos's lapel, pulling him close so she could bury her head against his shoulder. She needed his warmth and comfort and Carlos didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around her and give her the moment of peace she had been so desperately craving.__

_"___Sorry I couldn't come sooner," she murmured against his neck.__

__Her voice was raspier than usual and Carlos could tell from the way she clung to him that she hadn't been sleeping.__

_"___Are you—"__

_"___I'm okay," she insisted before he could get the question out. But Carlos wasn't convinced.__

Mal peers at Carlos with a thoughtful but doubting gaze. "That's good," she says after a moment, nodding like she's trying to decide what to make of the handful of words Carlos has shared on Evie's current condition. She wants to ask more questions: __Has she been eating? Did she seem sad? What has that horrid bitch of her mother been doing to her?__ But she bites her tongue for fear of sounding too invested.

"Is she coming back to school soon?" Jay asks.

Jay's eyes are bright and hopeful at the prospect of Evie's return but Carlos can't quite keep the corners of his mouth from pulling down into a frown or hide the way his eyes crinkle with hesitation at the question.

"Maybe next week," Carlos offers.

Jay appears to accept Carlos's cagey response but he can feel Mal's eyes on him, cold and appraising. He knows Mal can read his face and no matter how carefully he tries to school his expression when talking about Evie, he suspects Mal does not accept his claim that Evie is "fine" in any way. To be fair, he doesn't believe it either.

The crowd in the halls begins to swell and Mal less than gently ushers them into a nearby classroom to continue their conversation in private, barking out a crude but effective threat to rid the room of the last of the remaining students. The stragglers go without protest, stealing covet glances at a glaring Mal in their haste to leave.

Carlos sighs and takes a seat on the nearest desk, slipping off his backpack to get more comfortable and placing it in his lap in preparation for the onslaught of questions he suspects is imminent.

"So how'd she seem? What'd she say?" Mal presses, unable to squelch her thirst for more information regarding the blue-haired girl.

Carlos shrugs in an attempt to maintain an air of casualness to counter Mal's spiking intensity. "She didn't really say much."

"So you two sneak off into the middle of the woods to __not ____t__alk?" Mal snarks, unimpressed with Carlos's evasiveness.

__Carlos drew back from Evie's embrace, searching her eyes for some clue as to what she may have endured over the past week. "What happened? Did your mom punish you for leaving?"__

__Evie shook her head, waves of blue falling around her face. "No."__

_"___No?"__

_"___I'm just as surprised as you," Evie said with a soft laugh. "She hasn't laid a hand on me since I walked through the door. She hasn't even booked me a single appointment."__

__Carlos raised a disbelieving eyebrow. It wasn't the reaction he expected from the Evil Queen, but he was grateful for it. "Well, that's good, isn't it?"__

__Evie pressed her teeth into her bottom lip, a serious expression on her face. She could only shake her head in uncertainty. "I don't know."__

_"___Your bruises are healing, maybe she's going to let you come back to school soon," Carlos suggested, his tone intentionally light. "Mal's been dying to see you."__

__Evie brushed off Carlos's attempt to lift her spirits, not letting herself think too much about Mal. She had lost far too much time this past week to daydreams of Mal returning to her castle to whisk her away.__

_"___I think she has something planned. Something really bad," Evie says, her voice thick with despair.__

_"___Your mother?" Carlos questioned. "What do you mean?"__

_"___I-I don't know. I'm just so tired, C," Evie whimpered in response, her arms falling heavily at her sides when she lets go of Carlos's jacket. __

__Carlos grasped her hands once again, squeezing firmly to convey all the feelings he couldn't quite put into words. He wished he could promise her it was all going to be okay but all he had to offer was her name uttered in a broken whisper.__

_"___I can't take it, Carlos!" Evie cried. "I'm terrified to eat. I can't sleep or think about anything else. I don't know what she's up to but I know it's going to be bad. I can see it in her eyes. I know she wants to hurt me. But the waiting—the not knowing what she has planned—" she trailed off with a teary shake of her head. "Carlos, I can't do this anymore. I wish she would just beat me and get it over with! I don't care if she sends 50 men to my room, I just need this to be over!"__

__Carlos pulled Evie to him, feeling her thin body shake as she cried against his chest. "Eves, shh, it's okay. It's going to be okay."__

"I don't go there to interrogate her!" Carlos snaps, shaking himself from the upsetting memory. He had seen Evie hurt before, he'd seen her afraid and despondent on far too many occasions. But he's rarely seen Evie in a state like he had found her in on the forest floor just a few hours ago— he's never seen Evie so desperate and on edge. Even in the face of unspeakable horrors, when her body was badly battered and her face was full of tears, Evie had always remained in control. Carlos shuddered to think of the sick games the Evil Queen must be playing to turn someone as headstrong and poised as Evie into an anxious trembling mess.

"Gods, you're useless!"Mal scoffs, her arms folded across her chest as she paces the classroom floor with wild incredulous eyes. She couldn't believe Carlos didn't press Evie harder when she'd been missing for an additional seven days. How does he expect to fix the problem if he's constantly bending to Evie's will? The girl clearly isn't thinking straight; it's up to them to remedy the situation on her behalf. And Mal had some rather __riveting __remedies in mind.

"She was tired and scared, okay? I wasn't going to push her," Carlos counters indignantly.

"Maybe you should have pushed!" Mal's eyes burn with the sort of frightening intensity that causes most students at Dragon Hall to draw back and scurry away. A look typically reserved for the most dire of circumstances. "Maybe you need to learn to be a little pushier, Carlos, because this docile puppy act isn't going to help Evie!"

Carlos wants to bite back, spit something cruel and cutting at the self-appointed leader of their little crew for having the audacity to challenge his dedication to Evie, but all he can do is lift his head and glare, a low growl rising from the back of his throat. Maybe Mal is right, maybe he has been too passive.

Jay pauses his idle pillaging of the teacher's desk at the front of the classroom and looks up to see his two friends locked in a bitter glaring match. "Mal, come on," he warns calmly, his affable tone a stark contrast to the simmering tension bouncing between Mal and Carlos.

Mal narrows her eyes on Carlos, stalking closer to the boy and leaning over him. "This spot of yours? Is it secure?"

"It's in the middle of the woods."

"Is that a yes?"

"It's too risky for you to come if that's what you're asking," Carlos says plainly, unaffected by Mal's attempt to intimate him. He's known her for far too long to actually be scared of her. "Besides, I have no way of knowing when Evie will show."

"So I'll come every day till I see her," Mal says like it's the most obvious thing in the world. And she would, she'd wait in the cold damp forest for hours if it meant she'd be able to see that Evie is okay with her own eyes.

Carlos shakes his head. "No."

"Why not?"

"Because someone might see you."

Mal rolls her eyes at the boy's excuse. "Who's going to see me? The only two houses out there are yours and Evie's."

"My mom sends Jasper and Horace out hunting all the time. If they spot you lurking about, our cover will be blown and Evie won't have our spot to go to when she's in trouble," Carlos explains before shaking his head again and adding, "No. I won't risk it."

"Gods! This is infuriating!" Mal cries out in frustration. "I can't sit back and do nothing while Evie is stuck in that terrible place with her awful mother and those gross men. I don't know how you did this for so long, Carlos."

It's those critical, vaguely accusatory words that set Carlos off, and in an instant, he's shoving his bag to the ground and leaping up from the desk to get in Mal's face. "Are you saying I'm okay with doing nothing?!"

At the commotion, Jay comes around to get in between Mal and Carlos. "Hey, Carlos, let's chill. Mal didn't mean it like that. We know you've been looking out for the princess."

Mal raises a doubting eyebrow. "Has he?"

"I knew it! I knew you'd think you could have done better!" Carlos roars. "I've been there for Evie since the beginning! Before either of you came into the picture!"

"Fat load of good that did her!" Mal shouts back.

Carlos reaches around Jay to lunge at a huffy self-righteous Mal. "Screw you, Mal! You're the one who spent the last few weeks making Evie's life a living hell! Your stupid stunts, the name-calling, all of it! School was supposed to be a break for her and you ruined it!"

"That's not fair, man, no one knew what she was going through," Jay cuts in, his own guilt rearing its head.

Mal is thankful for the interruption, her head pounding and her fists curling at Carlos's shamefully accurate accusations. Carlos is right—she did do all those things and she had enjoyed it. Who was she to judge Carlos's inaction when she had actively contributed to Evie's suffering? She needs to do more than be angry on Evie's behalf. She needs to implement a plan. Be a leader.

"And you," Carlos rounds on Jay with a pointed finger. "You just had to go and steal her stupid necklace, didn't you?"

"Well, maybe if you were honest with your crew about what was going on I wouldn't have done it!" Jay fires back, temper flailing, and defenses raised at the candid reminder of his own offense. Despite his affinity for stealing cool things and busting the skulls of anyone who dared to mess with him or his friends, Jay doesn't like hurting people who don't deserve it, and Evie has been nothing but kind to him.

Carlos pushes at his chest, still visibly riled up. "No, you didn't care that Evie would be the one who got punished for losing it!" He knows he's not really angry at Mal or Jay anymore, and they can't keep having the same fight, but he can't shake Evie's quivery desperate cries from his head and he needs __someone__, something tangible__, __to be angry at.

"That's enough!" Mal cuts in, sounding every bit her mother's daughter with an air of cool but commanding authority in her voice.

Jay and Carlos reluctantly separate, Jay being sure to get one last shove in before slinking off.

"Arguing isn't going to accomplish anything," Mal continues. "I get it, we're all pissed off about Evie, so let's do something about it."

"Yeah, and what do you suppose we do?" Carlos asks, a little more petulantly than he'd like. He had wanted Mal to come in and do what she does best—take control, but he's tired of listening to her self-righteously cast blame while throwing out half-cocked ideas that get them no closer to actually helping Evie.

Mal takes a breath and shifts her gaze between the two boys, a slow wicked smile spreading across her face. "We're going to kill the Evil Queen."

* * *

**Author's Note: Thank you for reading. Would love to hear what you think.**


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